Watchdog Says Pentagon Needs to Crank Up ‘Insider Threat’ Monitoring

Work to rein in some post-Sept. 11 domestic surveillance practices ended with passage of a bill that limits the National Security Agency’s collection of US call records. But regular Joes inside the Pentagon -- or at least those with access to sensitive or classified information -- should expect even greater scrutiny on their workplace activities. Just before the Senate cleared the USA Freedom Act, the Government Accountability Office released a report recommending the Defense Department take new steps to set up so-called “insider threat” programs, which aim to stop information leaks by disgruntled employees. The unclassified version of the report found only half of military components GAO reviewed have logged system and user behaviors to develop "a baseline of normal activity patterns."

The purpose of tracing the activities of Pentagon personnel is to zero in on network "anomalies," computer usage that might be indicative of a leaker, the watchdogs said. NSA is part of the Defense Department. The employee insider threat program was borne out of various laws and White House policies issued since 2010 that require all departments to do a better job of fortressing classified information. That year, former soldier Chelsea Manning shared top secret files with the WikiLeaks website. The ability of ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden to reveal classified intelligence in 2013 suggests anti-leak programs need more muscle, Patricia Larsen, co-director of the governmentwide National Insider Threat Task Force, said last December.