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US Urges Action to Prevent Insider Leaks
The White House is telling US agencies to create "insider threat" programmes to ferret out disgruntled workers who may leak state secrets, reports say.
The move follows the leaking of thousands of secret US cables to the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks.
An 11-page memo by US intelligence officials detailing the advice has been published by US broadcaster NBC.
Correspondents say the Obama administration is trying to prevent more embarrassing disclosures.
Agency officials are being urged to find ways to "detect behavioural changes" among those employees who might have access to secret documents.
The memo suggests the use of psychiatrists and sociologists to measure the "relative happiness" of workers or their "despondence and grumpiness" as a way to assess their trustworthiness.
The document published by NBC has been distributed by Jacob J Lew, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. It was sent this week to senior officials at all agencies using classified material.
The US is currently holding soldier Pte Bradley Manning on suspicion of stealing classified documents and passing them to Wikileaks.
US officials have not commented on the memo published by NBC.
The memo asks: "Do you have an insider threat programme or the foundation for such a programme?"
It also asks whether agencies are using lie-detector tests or are trying to identify "unusually high occurrences of foreign travel, contacts or foreign preference" by members of staff.
Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange have faced strong criticism for releasing thousands of cables between the US State Department and diplomatic outposts around the world.
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53 Comments so far
Show AllBad hair day = subversive behavior?.
"The memo suggests the use of psychiatrists and sociologists to measure the "relative happiness" of workers or their "despondence and grumpiness" as a way to assess their trustworthiness."
Response: Wouldn't it be better to address the reason they are despondent or grumpy and try and make their lives better, if the problems are work related? (sarcasm)
That would reverse the momentum that corporations and government have established to create a neofeudal system.
More Big Brother. More concise commentary to follow later today.
Euphemism of the day: disgruntled worker
"The memo suggests the use of psychiatrists and sociologists to measure the "relative happiness" of workers or their "despondence and grumpiness" as a way to assess their trustworthiness."
Hoo boy, my days are numbered.
Hello 1984 in 2011 and beyond....how bad can it get ?
Aren't officials barking up the wrong tree? People don't leak sensitive information because they are "disgruntled", but because they despise the political and economic system they must serve in their jobs. If they really want to go after leakers, they should try to figure out their political orientation--perhaps a bit of waterboarding might work to bring out that information.
Believe me, the psychologists and sociologists can devise tests that figure out political orientation. Lakoff and his ilk have a good handle on the means. Many here despise Lakoff, but if you're asked to take a psychological test by an employer or potential employer, I suggest you study him carefully and pretend you're a Republican when you're taking that test.
I don't know what they expect from the psychiatrists, who are merely drug pushers for Big Pharma.
Of course, if they're going to use lie detector tests, all is lost unless you're a sociopath.
Yes, I agree. They are perfectly capable of identifying the signs that a person is beginning to ask questions, have doubts, and therefore may be a risk.
We are in the midst if a terrorist witch hunt. The way these things always end, is when powerful people, who have the capacity to resist, start getting fingered; but before we get there, a lot of damage will have been done.
This is when all that NIH brain research pays off--at least for the oligarchy.
Not to mention decades of "marketing research" to dissect human behavior and motivation. It all connects.
And if they label the "disguntled workers" ENEMY COMBATANTS they can toss them in a gulag here or abroad without even allowing them to establish their true identity.
;-)
Zero interest in going after US crimes revealed by Wikileaks and hardly a secret before. There's nothing wrong with a police state as long as Democrats are in charge.
Yes, think about how many whistleblowers have come forward and addressed a variety of egregious behaviors and crimes, and the reaction of the public and their electeds was another yawn as they proceeded with bigger crimes and ever more damaging egregious behavior.
This is how empires fall.
Actually, the interesting part (if you can call it that) is how they have destroyed the whistleblowers. A clear message has been sent that such a behavior is frowned upon by the powers that be and they will not tolerate it or treat the deliverer of the message kindly.
Well not any longer in the house anyway....not that that will change anything.
The two parties are really one party, THE WAR PARTY.
I find that all corporations tend to blame any revelations or whistle blowing on "disgruntled workers".
This is going to cause more trouble by treating employees and officials as possible "terrorists".
So they will have to lie to their appointed psychologist about how they love everything about what they do if they want to keep their job or find another one.
Endless war is more than any government can get away with.
This memo is also the result of the famous British one about fixing the facts.
Another example of just how stupid Americans of all persuasions can be as they repeat the garbage they have been brainwashed with since birth which is "We love freedom." America is looking more and more like the old Soviet Union everyday and there doesn't appear to be much if any protest from the sheepish public about the growth of the police state.
This obsession with secrecy is such a dead giveaway for a complete and utter disdain for the people and a hallmark of when you are truly living in a fascist dictatorship like....the Fascist States of America!
This is another chapter that is covered in the movie "THX1138".
Warning: Slippery Slope Ahead!
It's only a matter of time before some ambitious demagogue-- a Senator, perhaps-- bursts into the headlines and limelight waving an alleged list of Known Disgruntled Subversive Leakers in the State Department and other government agencies.
Washington DC, like Hollywood, has a soft spot for bloated and unnecessary re-makes of the classics. And, alas! they aren't underestimating the taste of the Amerikan public.
Too bad Obama was not given a lie detector test during the campaign.
I appreciate your point, philiphoko, but i would say it is too bad that americans didn't take I.Q. tests during the campaign.
I appreciate you point, as well, but it's too bad the current corporate ___ sucking propaganda whores in MSM, aka "journalists" can't pass an integrity test.
No problem with that one, hue_sir_name. I guess we can start a list!
ROTFLMAO!
"The White House is telling US agencies to create "insider threat" programmes to ferret out disgruntled workers who may leak state secrets,"
Beats the hell out of just being "open", "honest", and "transparent" doesn't it, you corporate criminal politicians?!
Yes, Federal workers, not only is Obama freezing your pay, but that offhand comment you made over lunch might launch an investigation into your other thoughtcrimes! And were you sure you were smiling when you arrived at the office? You wouldn't want to appear "disgruntled" or "despondent" -- not with the new facial expression monitors they're installing everywhere. Say hello to the Thought Police! Room 101 is waiting...
I think there is a bit of a flaw in the reasoning here. What if somebody really wanted to get a job in the government because they wanted to get their hands on stuff to leak. It seem to me someone in that situation would be down right cheery when the showed up to work every morning!
You missed the point. The program is to detect behavioral changes indicating an employee is becoming disgruntled. It is not being designed to detect moles.
A perfect real-life example is Christopher Boyce who sold military secrets to the Soviets in the 70s after he started reading secret cables and learned how his government REALLY operated, such as arranging for "regime change" of the Australian Govt in 1975. See the movie "The Falcon and the Snowman", though the book is much, much better.
Ahh, I get it now. They only care about disgruntled people leaking secrets. If they are in good moods the leaks are OK! Sweeetttt!
Been there, done that at my last job, after I got outsourced. I knew I was doing a hell of a job at goofing off when I finally made it to the end of the internets!
Mind control and computer chips are just a few years away. Enjoy this 'democracy' while you can.
Obama the tyrant.
I almost become wistful, thinking of the bad old days of George W. Bush, where at least I had some hope.
Irony is rich aint it.
the u.s. government and it's two major political parties have been privatized, as is our heatlthcare system, our education system the military, the diplomatic corp. the real tyrants prefer to keep their names out of the public discussion. obama, his executive staff and congress give the illusion of democracy, just as walmart gives the illusion of buyer choice. do republican loyalist not know their candidates lie? do democrat loyalists believe their candidates always truthful? or do most people agree that "winning" is what it's all about, therefore the lies are necessary to success? neither party will confront the true tyrants or their allowance will be cut off. for example, one of many, obama spoke quickly against the coup in honduras. too quickly. the international fruit company did not appreciate his "talking out of school" and he retracted. those we "elect" must learn not to bite the invisible hand that feeds them.
we the people need to act locally, creating small businesses, our own local not for profit healthcare, education and such.
Knock off all the mamby pamby whining that spineless people have...get a grip. Blow the lid off this puppet show and stop being so whimpy.
If you can get a gov't job or in somewhere that you can whistleblow..do it.
It isn't about you, it's about survival. Start the insider war for god's sake. Nobody is ready to work locally. They aren't smart enough. You younger people need to get off your ipod and make a bigger shock wave of dissent.
Unable to open the document......NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hahahahhahahahaha
USSR Redux.
You become what you hate.
Does this mean that they're going to count the number of cups of coffee people drink, to prevent bathroom trips?
I was fired because I posted a comment on this web site during my lunch hour, under my alias ,
I wondered how they could have known,
After much thought, here is my conclusion,employers are set up to monitor your every keystroke, and they sense a potential issue, even one as simple as a comment left they dont agree with, or makes them a little nervous, because they know they are being monitored by big brother , your gone
I should have known better, because the fusion center eleite have been up my ass for 4 years , 24/7,
They dont like my constant comments about them being the stasi torture control freaks,
I bet they put pressure on my new employer of 1 month, I know it sounds crazy, but you have not experienced what I have over the last 4 years,
this country has been hijacked by an evil sick group of thugs, and as long as we are at war, and fear mongering is the tool of control, they can get away with murder, and if 9/11 was an inside job, individual dissenters like me are just target practice for these thugs.
"The memo suggests the use of psychiatrists and sociologists to measure the "relative happiness" of workers or their "despondence and grumpiness" as a way to assess their trustworthiness."
I guess they will have to give up the POT piss tests now.
Dear Congress, you need to requisition more money to deepen that tide pool by the monument. It will need more depth to ferret out the floaters and the sinkers.
Is this country completely daft? "Disgruntled employees?" Wow, so many things can appear to be what they are not. Perhaps their homelife sucks, or maybe the WORK EMVIRONMENT is a little too nazi for them.
Oh yes, and don't forget the political brown nosers who climb the heights due to their proclivity for dissing others. Soon , you will no doubt have entire departments of backstabbers COMPLETELY LACKING IN ANY OTHER SKILL SET.
THE OTHER has now entered the workplace, and with mindless government support too.
All this will accomplish is speeding up the fall of the empire.
Oh, by the way, no one suspected Benedict Arnold for a long time either. Yes, he was "of the right class" but he just didn't have the money, so he sold out. That's who you should be looking for, not the human beings who really care about their country.
The memo suggests the use of psychiatrists and sociologists to measure the "relative happiness" of workers or their "despondence and grumpiness" as a way to assess their trustworthiness.
A sudden hot sweat had broken out all over Winston's body. His face remained completely inscrutable. Never show dismay! Never show resentment! A single flicker of the eyes could give you away.
---- George Orwell, 1984
Whether he wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, or whether he refrained from writing it, made no difference. Whether he went on with the diary, or whether he did not go on with it, made no difference. The Thought Police would get him just the same. He had committed―would still have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper―the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thought-crime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.
---- George Orwell, 1984
If they start measuring worker despondency, they may find out more than they want to know, and not stop a thing: it's easy to disgruntle a worker after hiring and after tests -- even during.
What they might test for that would be alarming is moral fiber.
But anything, I suppose, besides cut back on the felonies.
Gee, everything points to the obvious: If you're going to build walls, which the USA is "best in the world" at doing, then you're going to have insides and hence insiders menacing you! You dish it out, you gotta take it ! Suck it up, big bad USA! Hint/Clue: TEAR DOWN THE WALLS if you wanna see "heaven"!!
I say continue cutting government employees' pensions, salaries and unions and you'll have more "disgrunteld employees" in your hands than you ever dreamed possible. Blowback is a bitch, whether you kill an innocent civilian in a foreign land you're trying to invade and 10 more rise to avenge that death or whether you're cutting the livelehood of your own people right at home.
So much for transparency. So much for a responsive Government. Oh wait, they did respond, with a whip and a cattle prod. Lord help them if the bureaucrats ever just quit being sneaky and hiding in the dark. Just another bunch of stoats and weasels.