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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: April 2010

March 2010

• U.S. Government Launches Official Agency to Manage Biometric Database by Jeremy Hsu, Popular Science, March 29. "Now what was a U.S. government task force under the U.S. Army has officially become a full-scale national security agency in charge of biometrics."
• Salon's Secret by Gabriel Schoenfeld, Weekly Standard Blog, March 29. "Secrecy, necessary though it often is, can be a high-octane fuel for rumors and conspiracy theorizing."
• U.S. report: Cuban media seldom fault military's role in economy by Juan O. Tamayo, Miami Herald, March 24. "Cuba's government-run news media regularly praises the armed forces as a model of efficiency, yet seldom mentions their powerful role in the island's crippled economy, according to a U.S. intelligence report."
• UK keeps three times as many patents secret as the US by Paul Marks, New Scientist, March 23. "UK patents are being declared state secrets more than three times as often as those filed in the US, according to information released to New Scientist."
• Report: Insurgents years ago obtained U.S. systems used to stop IEDs by Bob Brewin, NextGov, March 19. "Insurgents in Afghanistan obtained more than two years ago several U.S. systems the military uses to jam signals that detonate improvised explosive devices, and they might have passed them on to Iran to research how the technology can be foiled, according to a Secret Army document posted on Monday by WikiLeaks.org."
• Condi says she'd invade Iraq again, only focus aid outside Baghdad, Nukes and Spooks, March 19. "Perhaps Ms. Rice didn't read a recently declassified 2006 study by U.S. Joint Forces Command of the turbulent period that followed the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, which confirmed that the Bush administration's post-invasion planning was riddled with flaws."
• John Yoo's Email Fail by Nick Baumann, Mother Jones, March 10. "The Justice Department report released last month on the crafting of the so-called torture memos contained a number of eyebrow-raising revelations—but none perhaps as intriguing as the disclosure that many of John Yoo's emails had been irretrievably destroyed."
• Social media domination: Republicans rule Twitter by Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor, March 4. "More GOP than Democratic lawmakers use Twitter to communicate with constituents and the news media, according to a new Congressional Research Service study." Substantially more.
• NASA Proposed Rule on Release, Handling, and Protection of Restricted Information, Federal Register, March 4. "This proposed rule amends the NASA Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Supplement (NFS) to clarify the policy and procedures regarding the release of contractors' restricted information and the handling and protection of restricted information by contractors."
• Critics not satisfied with partial revelation of secret cybersecurity plan by Ben Bain, Federal Computer Week, March 3. "The release of a summary of a classified cybersecurity program launched during the Bush era that continues to guide government computer security efforts was generally welcomed, but some say key questions about the government’s strategy still need to be answered."
• White House Gives Peek at Cybersecurity Strategy by Sharon Weinberger, AOL News, March 3. "Amid a growing chorus of concern over the nation's approach to cybersecurity, the White House has revealed a bare-bones outline of its secret plans to protect the nation from a cyberattack. But the 12-point document may do little to quell criticism that the Obama administration has failed to make clear its strategy for dealing with the growing threat of cyberwarfare."
• DoD Releases Records of Illegal Surveillance by William Fisher, Truthout, March 3. "These are among the disclosures made this week in the release of more than 800 heavily-redacted pages of intelligence oversight reports, detailing activities that the Defense Department's (DoD) Inspector General has 'reason to believe are unlawful'."
• DoD Proposed Rulemaking on Safeguarding Unclassified Information, Federal Register, March 3. "The purpose of the potential changes is to implement adequate security measures to safeguard DoD information on unclassified industry information systems from unauthorized access and disclosure, and to prescribe reporting to the Government with regard to certain cyber intrusion events that affect DoD information resident or transiting on contractor unclassified information systems."
• White House Statement on Transparent Cybersecurity, March 3. "Transparency is particularly vital in areas, such as the CNCI, where there have been legitimate questions about sensitive topics like the role of the intelligence community in cybersecurity."

Older News: February 2010

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Updated March 31, 2010