-Caveat Lector-
Washington Post
CIA Shuts Chat Room, Fires 4, Suspends 10
By Vernon Loeb
Staff Writer
Washinton Post
Friday , December 1, 2000
Page A02
The CIA yesterday fired four employees, suspended at least 10
others and revoked the security clearances of nine private
contractors for exchanging "inappropriate" e-mail in computer
chat rooms hidden from management.
The disciplinary action, described as the largest in the agency's
history, followed a seven-month investigation that involved 160
employees and delved into activities going back 15 years.
While a public statement by the CIA stressed that the probe found
no "unauthorized disclosure of classified information," a memo to
all employees said investigators uncovered "a concerted and
sustained effort on the part of a group of individuals to create,
maintain and hide databases on the agency's computer systems."
The agency's statement said four employees, including one member
of its Senior Intelligence Service � a cadre of career officers
at the upper reaches of the civil service system � had been
stripped of security clearances, "rendering them ineligible for
continued CIA employment."
Eighteen others, including two SIS officers, received letters of
reprimand. "Most of them will be suspended without pay for
periods ranging from five to 45 days," the agency said.
Nine contractors, the statement said, also have been stripped of
security clearances, meaning they cannot work on CIA contracts.
Seventy-nine other CIA employees with "minimal involvement" in
the computer scheme received either warning letters or security
briefings.
CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said "every effort was made to
understand and distinguish the role, knowledge and responsibility
of each participant."
But former CIA employees with firsthand knowledge of the secret
chat rooms argued that the disciplinary actions were an
overreaction by CIA management.
Ross Stapleton-Gray, a former CIA analyst who participated in the
covert communications channels when he worked at the CIA from
1988 to 1994, said those involved were primarily computer-savvy
employees who enjoyed a sense of community with other "techies."
"I could be wrong, if some of these people were found to be in
cahoots with [convicted CIA spy] Aldrich Ames," he said. "But
the odds are pretty good that what this was, at worst, was
bitching about management."
Another recent CIA retiree said those involved have been
investigated far more aggressively than former CIA director John
M. Deutch, who admitted drafting top-secret memos on unsecure
home computers in 1995 and 1996.
Deutch was stripped of his security clearances only last year
after a disgruntled security officer went to the CIA inspector
general and complained that no disciplinary action had been taken
against Deutch.
One senior intelligence official responded that senior CIA
management felt compelled to take action because the organizers
of the hidden chat rooms deliberately deceived their superiors.
"The issue here," the official said, "is violation of trust," not
just some "off-color" e-mail.
In its statement, the CIA said the first secret chat room was
created as an "unofficial user's group" on the CIA's mainframe
computer in the mid-1980s. "Over the years, as the agency
migrated to new information systems, the hidden databases were
moved to take advantage of these new systems," the statement
said.
The memo to CIA employees, written by Robert McCants, the
agency's security director, said "the group's leaders weighed
whether their steps to evade security were adequate, alerted each
other to leaks, and discussed whether it was time to panic when
exposure was feared."
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FROM THE DESK OF:
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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