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The United States Pentagon has unveiled its intentions to enhance its control over classified information following a series of alleged leaks attributed to a low-ranking service member. These leaks caused significant disruption among US officials.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released a memorandum on Wednesday outlining the plan to fortify the Department of Defense’s management of sensitive information. The plan was formulated after a 45-day review of department practices, which did not pinpoint a singular point of failure.
Austin acknowledged that the review “identified areas where we can and must improve accountability measures to prevent the compromise of classified national security information, including addressing insider threats.”
The impetus for this plan stems from the arrest of Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old IT specialist in the Massachusetts Air National Guard, who stands accused of sharing sensitive documents in a private chat group on the social media platform Discord.
The leaked documents were quickly disseminated across the internet and gradually caught the attention of US media. Their contents included embarrassing revelations about US surveillance of allies, unfiltered assessments of Russia’s activities in Ukraine, and evaluations of other nations’ military capabilities.
The memorandum issued on Wednesday mandates that the Department of Defense’s secured rooms, where classified information is stored and accessed, adhere to intelligence community standards for oversight and monitoring. Proposed changes encompass heightened levels of physical security, the appointment of “top secret control officers,” establishing a new office for addressing insider threats, and implementing systems to detect electronic devices in sensitive work areas. Austin directed the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency to devise methods for promptly identifying Austin’s concerns regarding personnel to local commanders.
A senior defense official, speaking anonymously to reporters, emphasized that these changes seek to strike a balance between increased accountability and the necessity of sharing critical information throughout the government.
According to a 2017 Office of the Director of National Intelligence report, an estimated 4 million individuals possess US security clearances, with approximately 1.3 million authorized to access top-secret information.
Teixeira enlisted in the Air National Guard in 2019 and held the “cyber transport systems specialist position,” granting him top-secret security clearance.
Prosecutors allege Teixeira initially shared sensitive information online by manually typing out documents. Later, he removed classified documents from the base and took them home to photograph. He disseminated this information to a small group of individuals in a Discord chatroom primarily used by gamers.
Court documents in Teixeira’s case revealed that his supervisors had warned him about improper access to classified information on at least three occasions. However, no further action was taken to restrict his clearance or access.
Last month, Teixeira pleaded not guilty to six counts of willfully keeping and transmitting classified information related to national defense. Each charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, as the Justice Department states.
The leaked documents contained significant revelations, including a bleak US assessment of Ukraine’s counteroffensive efforts. Another document suggested that officials in Egypt, a recipient of substantial unconditional military aid from the US, conspired to provide artillery to Russia.
A document highlighted US monitoring of internal debates in South Korea regarding providing arms to Ukraine. A US A revealed that senior leaders in Mossad had “advocated” for agency officials and citizens to participate in protests against the Israeli government’s proposed judicial reforms.
This leak represents the most significant breach since Edward Snowden released National Security Agency documents in 2013. It has raised important questions about awarding security clearances and overseeing access to classified information.
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Source: Omanghana.com
