The general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget issued a reminder to government employees and contractor that they had an obligation to maintain the secrecy of the classified information that WikiLeaks posted and should refrain from reading it. -db
NextGov
December 6, 2010
By Brian Kalish
The White House and federal agencies reminded employees and contractors they should not view materials on government or personal computers that WikiLeaks posted because the materials remain classified.
“Federal agencies collectively, and each federal employee and contractor individually, are obliged to protect classified information pursuant to all applicable laws,” stated the memo sent by the general counsel’s office in the Office of Management and Budget to agency general counsels on Friday. The memo was published by the news website Talking Points Memo.
The memo, OMB spokeswoman Moira Mack wrote in an e-mail, “reinforces existing requirements to protect the integrity of nonclassified government systems and to prevent the spillage of classified material onto nonclassified systems.”
The memo reminded agency leadership they must “establish a vigilant climate that underscores the critical importance of the existing prohibitions, restrictions and requirements regarding the safeguarding of classified information.”
OMB requested agencies to “immediately . . . send out a notice to all agency employees and contractors reminding them . . . to safeguard classified information.” Attached to the memo was a form notice, obtained by Nextgov, that OMB suggested be sent out in some variation.
The model form notice stated employees and contractors may not access documents marked classified on any device that accesses the Internet, including BlackBerrys. The restriction included access through agency or contractor computers, or through employees’ or contractors’ personally owned computers that access nonclassified government systems. Employees and contractors are permitted to read publicly available news reports that discuss the WikiLeaks material.
Some agencies already have sent out memos. “Because the information released by WikiLeaks remains classified, [Defense] reminded its military and civilian employees and contractors not to access the WikiLeaks website,” Defense spokesman Cmdr. Bob Mehal wrote in an e-mail. “Viewing or downloading still-classified documents from unclassified government computers creates a security violation.”
At the Labor Department, spokesman Clarisse Young said officials plan to issue a similar memo Monday afternoon reminding employees of their obligation not to handle classified information absent appropriate clearances. And at the Federal Aviation Administration, spokesman Paul Takemoto said the agency would reinforce OMB guidance. Other agencies did not respond to requests for comment.
The ban also extended to the Library of Congress, which blocked access to the site across its computer systems, including those for use by patrons in the reading rooms. In a blog post on the agency’s website, Director of Communications Matt Raymond said the site was blocked “because applicable law obligates federal agencies to protect classified information.”
“Unauthorized disclosures of classified documents do not alter the documents’ classified status or automatically result in declassification of the documents,” he wrote.
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