Administration Reviews Handling of Gov't Secrets

[cal04]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101129/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_wikileaks

The Obama administration is ordering government agencies to immediately review procedures for safeguarding classified information in the wake of the disclosure of thousands of secret State Department documents.

According to a memo obtained by The Associated Press, the Office of Management and Budget is telling agencies to establish security assessment teams to ensure that employees do not have broader access to classified information than what is needed to do their jobs.

OMB director Jacob Lew says the failure of agencies to safeguard classified information is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Lew says the State Department documents leaked by the online whistle-blower group Wikileaks has resulted in "significant damage" to U.S. national security.

[jaxx]

1. Talk about hitting the job on the run,

Lew was just confirmed on Nov. 18th. His experience will be a plus.

[karynnj]

2. He previously was a top deputy in the .... State Department

reporting directly to Clinton - his position was Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. I assume it is likely Clinton and his successor who will need to deal with preventing future leaks.

[cal04]

3. U.S. To Tighten Handling Of Classified Information

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/11/29/us/politics/politics-us-wikileaks-usa-order.html?hp

(snip)
The new procedures would ensure "than users do not have broader access than is necessary to do their jobs effectively, as well as implementation of restrictions on usage of, and removal media capabilities from, classified government directives," according to a directive from the Office of Management and Budget released on Monday.