FAS News letter 01/18

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From the Blogs Declassification of Nuclear Build Rate Sought: Last week, FAS submitted a petition to the Department of Energy to declassify the annual rate at which the United States built new nuclear weapons throughout the Cold War; this information would enrich the public understanding of the historical development of the U.S. stockpile. Total annual build rates have previously been declassified for 1945 to 1961. "Insider Threat" Program Lags Behind Schedule: The government-wide effort to contain the threat to classified information and sensitive facilities from trusted insiders is falling behind schedule. Currently, the anticipated achievement of an Initial Operating Capability for insider threat detection by January 2017 is “at risk,” according to a new quarterly progress report. Meanwhile, the date for achieving a Full Operating Capability cannot even be projected. One aspect of the insider threat program is “continuous evaluation” (CE), which refers to the ongoing review of background information concerning cleared persons in order to ensure that they remain eligible for access to classified information and to provide prompt notice of any anomalous behavior. IC Inspector General Finds No Overclassification: A new study of the subject from the Intelligence Community Inspector General failed to identify a single case of unnecessary or inappropriate classification. The December 2014 report states that "IC IG found no instances where classification was used to conceal violation of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency; restrain competition; or prevent or delay the release of information not requiring protection in the interest of national security." The IC IG report purports to address classification trends across the intelligence community. And its conclusions are hard to reconcile with the public record, to say the least. DoD Cyber Operations and More from CRS: Secrecy News has obtained recently released CRS reports on topics such as U.S. military operations in cyberspace, state sponsors of international acts of terrorism and China and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missiles.    FAS in the News Jan 16: Washington Post, "CRS Report Of The Week: State Of The Union Factoids"  Jan 15: The Guardian, "New Guidelines For US Government Leak Inquiries Leave Journalists At Risk"  Jan 14: Washington Examiner, "NSA Reform Shadows Obama's Cybersecurity Agenda"  Jan 12: McClatchy DC, "Talk Of Petraeus Indictment Raises Legal Questions For His Ex-Paramour"  Jan 12: Washington Post, "The Centcom 'Hack' That Wasn't" Jan 12: The Guardian, "Politicians Stand By David Petraeus Despite FBI Leaks Inquiry"