FOIA Documents Show Government's Whistleblower-Punishing 'Insider Threat' Program Modeled On Chelsea Manning

from the threatened-by-accountability dept

Chelsea Manning has obtained her "Insider Threat" report from the US government through a FOIA request. It's published in full at The Guardian and it provides additional insight into this administration's war on whistleblowers. Set up in the wake of Manning's Wikileaks document dump, the "Insider Threat" program seeks to weed out future Mannings and Snowdens -- both of whom turned over documents to journalists and activists, rather than the nation's enemies. Manning, in an accompanying editorial, calls it a "blank check for surveillance." And it is.

The list of possible indicators is so broad as to cover nearly the entirety of the government's workforce -- not just those with security clearances.

(U)Insider Threat Motives

Greed or financial difficulties
Disgruntled or wants revenge
Ideology
Divided loyalties
Vulnerable to blackmail
Ego/Self-lmage
lngratiation
Family/personal issues
To be seen as a threat by the government, one only needs to experience the rigors of everyday life, like "financial difficulties" or "family issues." If a person's viewpoint is not totally aligned with the agency they work for, the person may be viewed as holding a hostile "ideology" and will likely be "disgruntled."

The document also has a list of indicators related to job functions. Any straying from the confines of the position could be viewed as threatening.

(U) Behavior Indicators

Interest in matters outside their scope of responsibilities.
lnappropriately seeks to obtain classified information on subjects not related to their work.
Downloads/transfers information without proper authorization or need via media devices or email.
Deliberate and unnecessarily copies of documents or media.
Works unusual times outside normal duty hours.
Unexplained affluences.
Engaged in suspicious personal contacts.
Unreported foreign contacts.
Overwhelmed by life crises and/or career disappointments.
Compulsive and destructive behavior.
The following page of the report shows this part of the Insider Threat program is specifically based on Chelsea Manning, as every single one of these items is listed under "PVT. Manning's Behavior Indicators." That includes the mysterious "Unexplained affluences," which continues to go unexplained in the detailing of Manning's behavior. (I would assume this refers to outward signs of wealth not supported by pay grade, but the report just tosses the ungainly wording into the list without specifying what it is, how it's determined, or how it applies to Manning.)

Somewhat comically, Manning's assigned shift is referred to as being "outside normal duty hours."
Works unusual times outside normal duty hours.

PVT Manning utilized his 12 hour shift from late evening (~7pm) until the morning (~7am) to conduct his illegal activity.
As The Guardian points out, documents obtained by Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists show over 100,000 government employees have already been targeted for insider threat surveillance. The program calls it "continuous evaluation," which is the government's innocuous terminology for surveillance of all activities, including those outside of work, like financial transactions, political affiliations and activism.

In total, the report does almost nothing to allay fears that the Insider Threat program will be used to hunt down whistleblowers. Manning's report indicates the government feels advocates for transparency ("promoted the ideology that all information should be public") and people who don't fit into binary gender confines ("[Manning] struggled with his self-image as a man when he wanted to be openly accepted as a female") should be subjected to pervasive surveillance by their own government.

The bottom line is that even if an employee is otherwise satisfied with their government employment, they still need to "fit in" with fellow employees, live a life mostly free of financial or personal stress, advocate only for their employer's official/unofficial positions and hopefully identify as straight male/female. Anything outside of these confines is asking for trouble. Whistleblowers don't even stand a chance.

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Filed Under: chelsea manning, foia, insider threat, whistleblowing


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  • icon
    That One Guy (profile), 18 Mar 2016 @ 10:55am

    Back in your appointed slot cog

    Ideology

    Have an opinion that differs from that of your superiors? That's a red-flag.

    Ego/Self-lmage

    Have the audacity to think that you're an actual person with your own thoughts? That's a red-flag.

    Vulnerable to blackmail

    Do anything that might be illegal or even just embarrassing(otherwise known as 'have a pulse')? That's a red-flag.

    Interest in matters outside their scope of responsibilities.

    Have a working brain and interest in anything beyond the immediate duties placed before you? That's a red flag.

    Works unusual times outside normal duty hours.

    Don't get all your work done on time without fail and have to work overtime, or have a sleep schedule that means you prefer to work different hours? That's a red flag.

    Unreported foreign contacts.

    Use the internet for pretty much any social activity without reporting every possible person to your superiors? Oh you better believe that's a red flag.

    With indicators this vague the only surprising thing is that they're 'only' targeting 100,000 people for surveillance, they could easily find something to justify watching pretty much any and all government employees if they cared to.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2016 @ 11:14am

      Re: Back in your appointed slot cog

      Vulnerable to blackmail

      Do anything that might be illegal or even just embarrassing(otherwise known as 'have a pulse')? That's a red-flag.


      Anything ... like, your assigned NSA job?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Jeremy Lyman (profile), 18 Mar 2016 @ 11:57am

      Re: Back in your appointed slot cog

      Terrified of the Thought Police? Red flag.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Ninja (profile), 21 Mar 2016 @ 6:57am

      Re: Back in your appointed slot cog

      - compulsive and destructive behavior

      Surf porn? Red tube. I mean, flag.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2016 @ 10:59am

    Given the list of threat motives, it would be harder to find someone without a motive than someone with one. The categories are so ill defined as to include rather than exclude.

    The behaviors are broad enough that most folks can be tucked into at least one of them. I don't work for the government, have no access to classified info. But if I did, having an interest in the popular subject of space photography that the Hubble Telescope makes and is released by NASA would qualify me for matters outside my area of responsibility.

    It is evident by the procedures I've seen just covered here a TechDirt, that some enterprising Attorney General or Prosecuting Attorney most likely could and given time probably will use something similar to bring a case against a government worker.

    Ya, I think it has reached the point to be that bad. There is no longer the need to apply common sense to justice it seems.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2016 @ 10:36pm

      Re:

      They are teaching people the founding fathers were terrorists and the constitution needs to be removed as supporting terrorism. It is far beyond that point.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Vidiot (profile), 18 Mar 2016 @ 11:03am

    Ideology as Threat

    Ahh, ideology. Unforgivable as a motivation for placing oneself at great personal risk in the service of disclosing wrongdoing.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2016 @ 11:10am

    Huh... it's like the guys look at Brazil (1985) as an ideal.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2016 @ 11:22am

    "over 100,000 government employees have already been targeted for insider threat surveillance"

    Now imagine this mentality applied to all those potential recalcitrant Apple employees. Continual surveillance beckons for those too, especially those who balk at being told to obey government orders or who quit instead.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Yes, I know I'm commenting anonymously, 18 Mar 2016 @ 12:11pm

    Snarkily summarizing

    Any civil servant below the cabinet-level is deemed a threat to the surveillance state.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    limbodog (profile), 18 Mar 2016 @ 12:30pm

    This is what it looks like inside the mind of a paranoid

    Never ever trust anyone!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2016 @ 1:16pm

    Just for clarification. Financial difficulties means you are in a lot of debt or gamble excessively. It could still be taken to the extreme like your article suggests, but keep in mind that is a single slide of a brief not the actual memo instructing how the policy is carried out.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2016 @ 1:53pm

    Any USA newspaper carrying this story?
    Oh wait, that'd likely be a threat.

    This is a joke. Whistleblowers are hero's. They released it because no one internally was interested / condoned whatever was going on. They vetted harmful information. They sacrificed their lifestyle. Cheney has done worse, without any accountability.

    I'd like to hear candidates thoughts on this, although I can guess at most of them.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2016 @ 2:51pm

    I laughed out loud at page 21. "Wget.exe - Ultimate tool for gathering and compiling Intelligence."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2016 @ 3:00pm

    Tinder users beware!

    Engaged in suspicious personal contacts. CHECK!
    Unreported foreign contacts. CHECK!
    Overwhelmed by life crises and/or career disappointments. CHECK!
    Compulsive and destructive behavior. CHECK!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2016 @ 10:27pm

    when you have whole government organizations dedicated to creating, funding and supporting terrorism as well as torturing pow's. Then there is the whole sending innocent people to jail for profit.

    Of course the enemy of the state will be those that will blow the lid off of the whole corrupt mess.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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