Secrecy News -- 11/26/12
Steven Aftergood
saftergood at fas.org
Mon Nov 26 06:44:11 PST 2012
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SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2012, Issue No. 117
November 26, 2012
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
** WHITE HOUSE ADVANCES INSIDER THREAT POLICY
** IG REVIEW OF FISA COMPLIANCE COMPLETED BUT NOT RELEASED
** AUTONOMY IN WEAPON SYSTEMS
** INDIA-US SECURITY RELATIONS, AND MORE FROM CRS
WHITE HOUSE ADVANCES INSIDER THREAT POLICY
In a memorandum to agency heads last week, President Obama transmitted
formal requirements that agencies must meet in order "to deter, detect, and
mitigate actions by employees who may represent a threat to national
security."
Along with espionage and acts of violence, the National Insider Threat
Policy notably extends to the "unauthorized disclosure of classified
information, including the vast amounts of classified data available on
interconnected United States Government computer networks." To combat such
unauthorized disclosures, agencies are required to "monitor employee use of
classified networks."
http://www.fas.org/sgp/obama/nitp.pdf
The new standards, which have not been made publicly available, were
developed by an interagency Insider Threat Task Force that was established
by President Obama in the October 2011 executive order 13587, and they
reflect the ongoing tightening of safeguards on classified information in
response to the voluminous leaks of the last few years.
http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/eo-13587.htm
But the latest issuance also illustrates the superfluousness (or worse) of
current congressional action concerning leaks. Executive branch agencies
do not need Congress to tell them to develop "a comprehensive insider
threat program management plan," as would be required by the Senate version
of the pending FY2013 Intelligence Authorization Act (section 509). Such
plans will go forward in any case.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2012_cr/ssci-leaks.pdf
Sen. Ron Wyden has placed a hold on the pending intelligence bill, citing
objections to several of the proposed anti-leak provisions contained in
Title V of the bill. He said the proposed steps were misguided or
counterproductive.
"I am concerned that they will lead to less-informed public debate about
national security issues, and also undermine the due process rights of
intelligence agency employees, without actually enhancing national
security," he said on November 14.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2012_cr/wyden-hold.html
The most problematic measures in the Senate bill are those intended to
restrict contacts between reporters and government officials.
Senator Wyden said that legislative actions to limit the ability of the
press to report on classified matters could undermine or cripple the
intelligence oversight process.
"I have been on the Senate Intelligence Committee for 12 years now, and I
can recall numerous specific instances where I found out about serious
government wrongdoing--such as the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program,
or the CIA's coercive interrogation program--only as a result of
disclosures by the press," he said.
* * *
The record of a July 2012 House Judiciary Committee hearing on National
Security Leaks and the Law has recently been published.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2012_hr/leaks-hjc.pdf
IG REVIEW OF FISA COMPLIANCE COMPLETED BUT NOT RELEASED
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Justice
said it had recently completed a review of the Department's use of Section
702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act
(FAA), but the report is classified and its findings have not been
released.
"The OIG examined the number of disseminated FBI intelligence reports
containing a reference to a U.S. person identity, the number of U.S. person
identities subsequently disseminated in response to requests for identities
not referred to by name or title in the original reporting, the number of
targets later determined to be located in the United States, and whether
communications of such targets were reviewed. The OIG also reviewed the
FBI's compliance with the required targeting and minimization procedures,"
according to a November 7 OIG memorandum on Top Management and Performance
Challenges in the Department of Justice.
http://www.justice.gov/oig/challenges/2012.htm
A copy of the classified report has been requested under the Freedom of
Information Act.
Earlier this year, Sen. Ron Wyden placed a hold on reauthorization of the
FISA Amendments Act "because I believe that Congress does not have enough
information about this law's impact on the privacy of law-abiding American
citizens, and because I am concerned about a loophole in the law that could
allow the government to effectively conduct warrantless searches for
Americans' communications."
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2012_cr/wyden-fisa.html
AUTONOMY IN WEAPON SYSTEMS
The Department of Defense issued a new Directive last week establishing
DoD policy for the development and use of autonomous weapons systems.
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/d3000_09.pdf
An autonomous weapon system is defined as "a weapon system that, once
activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by a
human operator."
The new DoD Directive Number 3000.09, dated November 21, establishes
guidelines that are intended "to minimize the probability and consequences
of failures in autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems that could
lead to unintended engagements."
"Failures can result from a number of causes, including, but not limited
to, human error, human-machine interaction failures, malfunctions,
communications degradation, software coding errors, enemy cyber attacks or
infiltration into the industrial supply chain, jamming, spoofing, decoys,
other enemy countermeasures or actions, or unanticipated situations on the
battlefield," the Directive explains.
An "unintended engagement" resulting from such a failure means "the use of
force resulting in damage to persons or objects that human operators did
not intend to be the targets of U.S. military operations, including
unacceptable levels of collateral damage beyond those consistent with the
law of war, ROE [rules of engagement], and commander's intent."
The Department of Defense should "more aggressively use autonomy in
military missions," urged the Defense Science Board last summer in a report
on "The Role of Autonomy in DoD Systems."
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/09/dsb_autonomy.html
The U.S. Army issued an updated Army Field Manual 3-36 on Electronic
Warfare earlier this month.
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-36.pdf
INDIA-US SECURITY RELATIONS, AND MORE FROM CRS
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have
not been made readily available to the public include the following.
India-U.S. Security Relations: Current Engagement, November 13, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42823.pdf
A Guide to China's Upcoming Leadership Transitions, October 16, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42786.pdf
U.S. Trade and Investment Relations with sub-Saharan Africa and the
African Growth and Opportunity Act, November 14, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL31772.pdf
Roles and Duties of a Member of Congress, November 9, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33686.pdf
The Congressional Research Service made a humorous appearance in the
Doonesbury comic strip on November 24, in connection with the report on tax
cuts that was withdrawn in response to criticism from some Republican
Senators.
http://doonesbury.slate.com/strip/archive/2012/11/24
In fact, as often noted, members of Congress of both parties consistently
withhold public access to most CRS reports.
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/11/crs_withdrawal.html
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
Federation of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood at fas.org
voice: (202) 454-4691
twitter: @saftergood
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