U.S. gov't orders agencies to review procedures to safeguard classified information

[News_Editor]

U.S. gov't orders agencies to review procedures to safeguard classified information

2010-11-29 23:21:01 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- The U.S. government on Monday instructed government agencies to review procedures for safeguarding classified information after whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks obtained hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and began to publish them.

The review was announced in a memo by Jacob Lew, the Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), calling WikiLeak's actions 'irresponsible' and accusing it of causing 'significant damage' to national security.

"Our national defense requires that sensitive information be maintained in confidence to protect our citizens, our democratic institutions, and our homeland," said Lew. "Protecting information critical to our nation's security is the responsibility of each individual who is granted access to classified information. Any unauthorized disclosure of classified information is a violation of our law and compromises our national security."

Lew announced several instructions to departments and agencies which have access to classified information. "Any failure by agencies to safeguard classified information pursuant to relevant laws, including but not limited to Executive Order 13526, Classified National Security Information (December 29, 2009), is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," he said.

Lew ordered every department or agency with access to classified information to immediately establish a security assessment team consisting of counterintelligence, security, and information assurance experts to review its own implementation of procedures for safeguarding classified information against 'improper' disclosures.

"Such review should include (without limitation) evaluation of the agency's configuration of classified government systems to ensure that users do not have broader access than is necessary to do their jobs effectively, as well as implementation of restrictions on usage of, and removable media capabilities from, classified government computer networks," Lew said.

Lew also said that the Office of Management and Budget, the Information Security Oversight Office, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence will stand up processes to evaluate, and to assist agencies in their review of, security practices with respect to the protection of classified information.

On Sunday, WikiLeaks began publishing 251,287 leaked U.S. embassy cables - some of them secret. And in October, WikiLeaks released nearly 400,000 secret U.S. Army field reports of the Iraq War from 2004 to 2009. It led to several revelations, including new reports of civilian deaths. It was the biggest leak in U.S. military history.

In July, WikiLeaks released the so-called 'Afghan War Diary', more than 92,000 documents with sensitive details about the ongoing war in Afghanistan. It was one of the largest leaks in the history of the U.S. military, but also exposed the names of Afghans who have provided information to NATO.

On April 5, the organization also released a classified video which showed a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack in Iraq which left several people killed, including two Reuters journalists.

Julian Assange is the founder of WikiLeaks and is wanted in Sweden on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. Assange himself denies the accusations, saying they are politically motivated.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-11-29

[elliss]

why have wilki decided to blow the whistle , on the USA ?.

IMO, out of order, as it certainly harms , the peace making process ,

and causes more poltical unrest , in these uncertain times .

i

NOTHING NEW .

all major countries , have secret profiles/opions of foreign politicians .

[SergeiY]

why have wilki decided to blow the whistle , on the USA ?.

IMO, out of order, as it certainly harms , the peace making process ,

and causes more poltical unrest , in these uncertain times .

i

NOTHING NEW .

all major countries , have secret profiles/opions of foreign politicians .

harms the peace making process???

these leaks are telling truth about the war.

[Gers1873]

Why is wikileaks blocked in LOS? Why do I have to go through the hassle of using a Wikileaks mirror site??

[TAWP]

why have wilki decided to blow the whistle , on the USA ?.

IMO, out of order, as it certainly harms , the peace making process ,

and causes more poltical unrest , in these uncertain times .

i

NOTHING NEW .

all major countries , have secret profiles/opions of foreign politicians .

I think you are confused how this works...the site publishes *ANY* important documents that whistle-blowers will give them.

They aren't leaking it themselves nor are they requesting anyone to give top secret material to them - that would be illegal.

If you have any documents from another nation, share it.

[TAWP]

Why is wikileaks blocked in LOS? Why do I have to go through the hassle of using a Wikileaks mirror site??

The site published a video of XXXXXX XXX XXXXXXX XX XXXXX and XXXXX XXX and then XXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXX XXX XXXX XXXXXXX.

[powderpuff]

Julian may find himself on the FBI's 10 most wanted list soon. Works for me.

[Ulysses G.]

Julian Assange is the founder of WikiLeaks and is wanted in Sweden on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion

A real hero.