[Number 10 GI]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Too much information is classified, and too many people have access to it. It has been that way for more than 50 years, and I don't know of any serious efforts to change the system. I had a SECRET clearance for 35 years, but I never really needed it. They just gave it to me automatically. Don't expect any changes to occur.

What kind of work did you do? Many people in the military are given security clearances because of the nature of their work may put them in the position where they will have to safeguard classified information or equipment. There are classified communications codes that are used at the squad level in military units that a number of people will need to perform the mission. Therefor a security clearance is required to possess and use those codes.

I worked with a private security company that provided armed and unarmed guards to the government. I put the bid together for the contract and oversaw our on site manager. One of the contracts was providing security for classified work at a research facility. Even the though guards and supervisors never had access to the material, they still had to have a clearance in the chance they had to enter the classified area of facility due to an emergency or unauthorized intrusion. I worked a few hundred miles away from the site at the home office, but because I did on site performance inspections of our guard personnel, I was required to have a valid security clearance. If I remember correctly, it was a Top Secret clearance. Even though I had a clearance I didn't have a Need To Know for access to it.

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by alwann

And now, this:
Authorities recently arrested a Tennessee Air National Guard service member after he reportedly sought work as a hitman on a fake website known to lure would-be criminals.

FBI agents earlier this month arrested Josiah Ernesto Garcia, 21, who allegedly attempted to become a hired killer with the parody website rentahitman.com, according to a criminal complaint filed in a Tennessee district court.

Good grief, what's next on the platter ? Many locations are having such great difficulty hiring police, will we finally get to the point where we intentionally discontinue background checks so we can freely hire ex-convicts ? That's so "far out", and yet, I wonder what people will do next ?

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by sail33or

It is not so much the details of the leak but the actual true information revealed. It reveals the Defense Secretary, General Miley and the Pentagon Spokesman are blatant liars. We cannot trust anything that comes out of their mouths.

Sadly have to agree, I think we had PLENTY of hints that both are (perhaps even pathological ?) liars, or maybe just very weak men with no actual moral grounding ? What is called in philosophy, logic, and analysis classes as "situational ethics", their "ethics" rest on a foundation of what is best given the situation a the time ( meaning best FOR THEM) at any one point in time ?

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by LuvNH

Interesting that he is not being Court Marshalled, but going fhrough the civilian court system.

Isn't it possible that could still be ahead at some future point ?

[CODYCAT]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

A penny for your thoughts on the latest "leak" of classified intelligence information that effects our allies as well as us ! What do you think of the explanation that's it's actually a low ranking air force reserve member, more focused on on line gaming with teens than with his heavy responsibility by having access to our most sensitive intel ? A paid spy ? An immature air force member with "over his head" responsibilities ? A low lying fruit scapegoat for something even more complicated and covert than we can imagine ?

It would be interesting to go into the future and see where this period in history has taken us. A lot of people would probably have acted differently now. Past history defines the future.

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Probably both.

That was my thought, that it might be in the future. Going to be quite a circus, and probably never know the "rest of the story" ! At first glance, he seems a kind of Oswald type figure, a bit immature, a bit confused, kind of "blows in the wind" type that makes a perfect, uncomplicated, explanation so people just "move on" to the next sound bank ? I'm getting to be way too curious perhaps, will get the label "conspiracy nut" I'm sure !

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI

I would like to know how he accessed this kind of information. When I was in the Army I worked as a classified document clerk during my first enlistment. Initially I held a Secret security clearance but later I had to undergo a background investigation for a Top Secret clearance. The reason was that the Army command I worked in used Top Secret crypto material and I had to control accountability, dissemination and destruction of it when required. However, I didn't have and wasn't authorized access to all Top Secret material because I didn't have a Need To Know. I was only 19 years old when I got the Top Secret clearance.
I would like to know how he was able to have access to the information that was released.
When classified information is released illegally it can result in the disclosure of where and from whom the information was obtained. If a certain piece of information is only known to limited number of people then the search for the informant is narrowed drastically. There have been instances where everyone who was knowledgeable of the classified information leaked was executed to ensure they got the guilty person.

Yes, a few news reports have expressed that same worry, so very dangerous to the lives of those who provide the intel. Others say, nothing really that important in the leaked/posted materials.

[Taltarzac725]

Who is Jack Teixeira, who allegedly disclosed classified information for months? : NPR

They should be a whole lot more careful about whom they let around classified materials. And put in a lot more checks-and-balances.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

Interesting, missed all of those, maybe more forth coming on nightly news today. Only info I could find seemed to be he lives with both parents, not just his mother, but more important, I wonder if the Air Force is aware of all this, that he is taken with violence, narcissistic, he's obviously white, could see that at arraignment today, but most of all wonder if Air Force administrative levels knew of his fascination with teen on line groups like DISCORD ? What a mess is in my thoughts !

Discord isn't a "teen on line group." It's a chat network for gamers, though some businesses, politicians, religious organizations, and journalists use it as well. I'm a member of one of the game servers, because I've been playing that game for 20 years. You don't need to be a teen to play video games.

The Discord server he was on, was one of the hundreds of game servers available.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

do you ever remembering a stupid college age kid? I do, and did some stupid things which may have gotten me killed, or other poor outcomes. . . at 21 you aren't much more than a big teenager, and in today's world, big teenagers still have small brains. . and big egos. . . . and issues of independence acceptance, etc. .

Its more about who has clearance and vetting process and proper network/system access. . I blame mgmt not the big teenager. .

starting July as a former finance guy

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

do you ever remembering a stupid college age kid? I do, and did some stupid things which may have gotten me killed, or other poor outcomes. . . at 21 you aren't much more than a big teenager, and in today's world, big teenagers still have small brains. . and big egos. . . . and issues of independence acceptance, etc. .

Its more about who has clearance and vetting process and proper network/system access. . I blame mgmt not the big teenager. .

starting July as a former finance guy

Thinking that both the kid and whoever runs this system deserve the blame. We make way to much top secret so the meaning of top secret does not mean what it used to.

IMHO top secret is a way to hide lots of things from us.

[Number 10 GI]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

do you ever remembering a stupid college age kid? I do, and did some stupid things which may have gotten me killed, or other poor outcomes. . . at 21 you aren't much more than a big teenager, and in today's world, big teenagers still have small brains. . and big egos. . . . and issues of independence acceptance, etc. .

Its more about who has clearance and vetting process and proper network/system access. . I blame mgmt not the big teenager. .

starting July as a former finance guy

There is no excuse for the "big teenager's" actions, he knew what he was doing was illegal. It is explained very clearly to you when you are granted a security clearance what your responsibilities are towards safeguarding information and the ramifications if you don't.
We have had 19 and 20 year olds making life and death decision in the middle east for a few decades now so he has no excuse for his actions.
The vetting process for a security clearance consists of police record checks, birth records, interviews with people that know the person being investigated and the person being investigated. If there is no criminal record, use of drugs, heavy financial indebtedness, mental health issues or other problems usually a security clearance is granted. What more is there to check? Maybe consulting with a fortune teller?

[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI

There is no excuse for the "big teenager's" actions, he knew what he was doing was illegal. It is explained very clearly to you when you are granted a security clearance what your responsibilities are towards safeguarding information and the ramifications if you don't.
We have had 19 and 20 year olds making life and death decision in the middle east for a few decades now so he has no excuse for his actions.
The vetting process for a security clearance consists of police record checks, birth records, interviews with people that know the person being investigated and the person being investigated. If there is no criminal record, use of drugs, heavy financial indebtedness, mental health issues or other problems usually a security clearance is granted. What more is there to check? Maybe consulting with a fortune teller?

There are many levels of employees getting access to classified secret data. Some may type the data, store the data etc. All who have access should have been vetted and trained as to how to handle the data. Further, they should be fully trained as to the penalties associated with mishandling such data.

Hopefully, the last subject was not ignored. I had no doubt that if I mishandled such data that the penalties were severe

[Boffin]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

A penny for your thoughts on the latest "leak" of classified intelligence information that effects our allies as well as us ! What do you think of the explanation that's it's actually a low ranking air force reserve member, more focused on on line gaming with teens than with his heavy responsibility by having access to our most sensitive intel ? A paid spy ? An immature air force member with "over his head" responsibilities ? A low lying fruit scapegoat for something even more complicated and covert than we can imagine ?

The information revealed is definitely a serious concern. However, a bigger concern may be the sources and methods revealed by that information.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Thinking that both the kid and whoever runs this system deserve the blame. We make way to much top secret so the meaning of top secret does not mean what it used to.

IMHO top secret is a way to hide lots of things from us.

I agree and since i work in mgmt, and actually assign data and documents permission as part of my job on two different platforms, i see the flaws in document permissioning system. On the documents platform, there are 40 different permission settings possible. A bit overengineered, yes, but the additional complexity requires a dedicated librarian to avoid the chaos created by individuals filing documents from their point of view, versus a standardized and constantly monitored system. That's why physical libraries have librarians doing the same job, but the electronic world requires much more complex monitoring and permissioning

So that's where i lay the blame, as you can train humans but human behavior is much more creative and not bounded by any laws of nature, so good training gets you 95+% of the way to your goal. The final 5% is the document management, proper document permissioning, and constant monitoring and logging of all activity against the permissions.

I see cases where libraries get chaotic without a librarian, without constant monitoring and cleanup, and that makes the permissioning a spaghetti nightmare. . that's where the mgmt blame lies. . They assigned me a librarian job as well, and i said no way, that's a full time job, and our document library is already out of control. . . that's where the tediocrity comes in.

You can't always default to everyone follows the training, because there are humans involved. . .