Amazon Web Services last week unveiled a new cloud computing "secret region" to store classified information for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other members of the American intelligence community. In 2013 it was revealed that the CIA was pursuing a $600 million cloud computing contract with Amazon, in what The Atlantic has described as … Continue reading Amazon’s new ‘secret region’ for the CIA
Tag: classified information
We may soon learn more about the extent to which the United States' military has allowed its own soldiers to be exposed to a wide range of poisons -- on purpose, in some cases, as part of chemical weapons experiments. In what Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy News calls "an unusual … Continue reading NDAA requires declassification of toxic exposure records
In the past few years, various aspects of the United States' security clearance system for allowing individuals to access classified information have come under scrutiny, following some major failures and embarrassments. In 2014, a massive data breach at the Office of Personnel Management led to the exposure of sensitive information on tens of millions of … Continue reading DoD grants temporary clearances to rapists, murderers to avoid ‘horrific impact’ on weapons development
The day after NBC News aired an exclusive interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and just days before former FBI Director James Comey's highly anticipated testimony on his investigation into potential Trump administration collusion with Russia, another sensational storyline related to Russian meddling in the U.S. election emerged June 5 -- this one threatening to … Continue reading Truth, lies and Reality Winner
James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence who resigned at the end of President Obama's administration -- and who once controversially denied that the U.S. intelligence bureaucracy collects data on its own citizens just months before leaks from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden showed that to be untrue -- is seemingly willing … Continue reading Former spy chief comments on ‘broken’ clearance system, ‘too much Big Brother’
In the wake of high-profile leaks of government secrets in recent years such as those by Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, and most recently the CIA revelations from Wikileaks, the "insider threat" has become a prominent concern in national security circles. It is not surprising, then, that someone has now suggested another popular buzzword -- … Continue reading Automation suggested as ‘insider threat’ solution
At the end of this month, regulations will come into effect requiring defense contractors to implement "insider threat" detection and prevention programs, with the aim of stopping security breaches. Yet the approach the Pentagon is taking seems to favor its larger contractors, while potentially stifling innovation from smaller competitors and contributing to the problem it … Continue reading DoD ‘insider threat’ rules may favor biggest contractors, make problem worse
Following news today that a National Security Agency contractor, Harold Thomas Martin, was arrested over a month ago and secretly detained since then for allegedly stealing classified documents, many questions remain unanswered, but some details are known. Martin worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, the same defense and intelligence community contractor that whistleblower Edward Snowden had been … Continue reading Detained NSA contractor doesn’t fit ‘insider threat’ profile, raising questions