A Review of FBI Security Programs

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with which it contracted were convicted of espionage between 1982 and 1999. 6 According to open-source material, 117 American citizens were prosecuted for espionage between 1945 and 1990 or clear evidence existed of their guilt; the reported cases of espionage doubled from the 1950s to the 1970s and then doubled again in the 1980s. Of course, this data does not include espionage that has not been detected or reported. Money appears to be the major motive in these cases; and most of these spies volunteered their services to foreign intelligence agencies. 7 The practice of tradecraft by our adversaries, including the use of defectors-in-place, should come as no surprise. Though the ancients did not have computer diskettes, they did have the means to transmit covert information vital to “national” security. Herodotus, for instance, tells us about a Greek living in Persia, who alerted Sparta to Xerxes’ invasion plans by smuggling information on a piece of wood covered with wax. The Bible is also replete with instances of espionage, including Yahweh’s instruction to Moses to send spies into the land of Canaan. The account of the harlot Rahab sheltering Israelite spies and betraying the city of Jericho might be the first documented instance of a “safe house.” Thus, history teaches us to expect spies among us and to anticipate that some of those spies will be of us. Espionage has not been invented by our recent adversaries, and it is not a sign of our political or moral decline. In fact, we have been beset by spies from within even before we had a Constitution to unite us. For instance, Edward Bancroft, a New England physician who served as secretary to the commission the American colonies sent to France during the Revolutionary War, was a confidant of Benjamin Franklin, an indispensable agent of John Adams, and a British spy. Bancroft sent London weekly communications written in invisible ink and placed in a hole in a tree in the Tuileries 6 DOD PERSONNEL: Inadequate Personnel Security Investigations Pose National Security Risks, U.S. General Accounting Office (Oct. 1999) 7 S. Wood & M. Wiskoff, AMERICANS WHO SPIED AGAINST THEIR COUNTRY SINCE WORLD WAR II, Defense Personnel Security Research Center (1992) -17-
Gardens. The rebellious colonies did not have to wait long for other disastrous betrayals, and, indeed, from our Country’s early history on, the name Benedict Arnold has signified a traitor from within. Recognizing that we cannot eliminate espionage efforts against us, the Commission has attempted to recommend changes in FBI security programs that will minimize the harm that those who betray us can do to our national security and minimize the time between their defection and detection. To achieve these goals, we focused our attention on four areas: the structure of the Bureau’s security programs and the policies and procedures designed to ensure the integrity of its personnel, information systems, and documents. We also examined security programs in federal entities other than the FBI: the CIA, NSA, the Department of State, and the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations. We looked at these entities to develop a “best-practices” model we could use to assess the Bureau’s security programs, and we specifically focused on the Office of Special Investigations because, like the FBI, it has intelligence and law-enforcement functions that must be carefully delineated. We will present our findings in the chapters to come and in much greater detail in classified appendices. In sum, we found serious deficiencies in most security programs we analyzed within the Bureau. When compared with best practices within the Intelligence Community, FBI security programs fall far short. It should be noted, however, that security programs in the CIA, NSA, the Department of State, and other elements within the U.S. Intelligence Community have undergone top-to-bottom reviews and re-structuring in the relatively recent past as a result of significant, though belatedly discovered compromises. Simply naming a few of these double agents is chilling: • Aldrich Ames, a CIA counterintelligence officer, pled guilty to spying on behalf of the Soviet Union in what has been described as the costliest breach of security in CIA history. During nine years as a spy, -18-
Page 1 and 2: U.S. Department of Justice A Review
Page 3 and 4: Commission for the Review of FBI Se
Page 5 and 6: Contents Executive Summary ........
Page 7 and 8: The Commission for the Review of FB
Page 9 and 10: in FBI security programs that will
Page 11 and 12: Unlike other Intelligence Community
Page 13 and 14: INTRODUCTION I could have been a de
Page 15 and 16: un by an officer in the Soviet mili
Page 17 and 18: establishment, U.S. penetration of
Page 19 and 20: operatives he had exposed as double
Page 21 and 22: Hanssen was indicted on twenty-one
Page 23: een transferred to FBI Headquarters
Page 27 and 28: Furthermore, in spite of Hanssen’
Page 29 and 30: others.” In calling for the estab
Page 31 and 32: have discovered in FBI security pro
Page 33 and 34: The following is a compressed compi
Page 35 and 36: I. Security Investigations And Adju
Page 37 and 38: DOCUMENT SECURITY I. Classified Na
Page 39 and 40: of Central Intelligence Directives
Page 41 and 42: II. The Office of Security Should D
Page 43 and 44: INFORMATION SYSTEMS SECURITY (INFOS
Page 45 and 46: Robert Hanssen’s espionage demons
Page 47 and 48: een filled, the persons assigned of
Page 49 and 50: with the preliminary damage assessm
Page 51 and 52: FBI was investigating him. 13 While
Page 53 and 54: focus. 14 As a result of inadequate
Page 55 and 56: in unrestricted administrative case
Page 57 and 58: On October 3, 2001, an Electronic C
Page 59 and 60: senior FBI officials responsible fo
Page 61 and 62: percent of the amount sought. 16 Th
Page 63 and 64: information security policies that
Page 65 and 66: PERSONNEL SECURITY I think that [my
Page 67 and 68: The Commission conducted a detailed
Page 69 and 70: The PSU is also responsible for adm
Page 71 and 72: Unit for new applicants, the Person
Page 73 and 74: various elements is spread througho
Page 75 and 76:
addressed. These interviews are ess
Page 77 and 78:
identified, these individuals can b
Page 79 and 80:
overextended and potentially at ris
Page 81 and 82:
The FBI’s polygraph program was i
Page 83 and 84:
awareness programs relating to poly
Page 85 and 86:
DOCUMENT SECURITY Security was lax
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Much of Robert Hanssen’s espionag
Page 89 and 90:
Room. In the same year, the FBI Mai
Page 91 and 92:
Given the ubiquity of ACS, Headquar
Page 93 and 94:
(SCI). Before being given access to
Page 95 and 96:
eceived in the wake of recent terro
Page 97 and 98:
under minimum security controls. Th
Page 99 and 100:
carriers receive timely security cl
Page 101 and 102:
with the true scope of improper act
Page 103 and 104:
SECURITY STRUCTURE . . . [I]f I had
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In general, we found serious weakne
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executive will ensure constant focu
Page 109 and 110:
technical security countermeasures.
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Eighty-five percent of those office
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months training in investigations,
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accounts cancelled. A six-hour secu
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Unfortunately, reporting to securit
Page 119 and 120:
security violations should be subje
Page 121 and 122:
and training. -106-
Page 123 and 124:
Robert Hanssen’s treachery is hei
Page 125 and 126:
Glossary of Acronyms Acronym ACS AD
Page 127 and 128:
Acronym GSR HERU HIT HCS HQ HUMINT
Page 129 and 130:
Acronym OPM OPR OPSEC ORCON OSI OST
Page 131 and 132:
COMMISSION CHARTER
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time equivalent government personne
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WILLIAM H. WEBSTER, the Commission
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