The Pentagon is tightening the scope of who has entry to categorised data following the embarrassing leaking of navy intelligence paperwork on a web-based chat platform that has sparked issues with allies and adversaries across the globe in current days.
A Defense Department spokesman declined to touch upon the specifics of the investigation into the leaks however stated Pentagon officers are taking the matter “very seriously.” Brig. General Pat Ryder advised reporters they’re working across the clock to verify the size and affect of the leaks.
A junior Massachusetts Air National Guard member was arrested Thursday in reference to the leaks, elevating quick questions of how somebody so low on the chain of command had entry to delicate intelligence on such matters because the battle in Ukraine, non-public discussions of U.S. allies and pending navy arms offers.
“We continue to review a variety of factors as it relates to safeguarding classified materials,” General Ryder stated. “This includes examining and updating distribution lists, assessing how and where intelligence products are shared.”
There’s little question the discharge of the categorised data was a deliberate act. Military members obtain common coaching on the right dealing with of categorised data and signal non-disclosure agreements, General Ryder stated.
“Those rules are very clear and anyone who has a security clearance knows that,” he stated. “Anyone who violates those rules is doing so willfully.”
SEE ALSO: FBI arrests National Guard Airman Jack Teixeira as suspect in large intelligence leak probe
His feedback got here as FBI brokers have been arresting Airman Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard member believed to have first posted scores of categorised paperwork to a small, non-public chat room for players on the web, a few of it showing months earlier than officers discovered it had been leaked.
General Ryder wouldn’t touch upon the leaked data. “Just because classified information may be posted online or elsewhere, it doesn’t mean that it has been declassified,” he stated.
Although he wouldn’t verify any particulars concerning the suspect, General Ryder stated a junior service member might have a high-security clearance relying on the job.
“We entrust our members with a lot of responsibility at a very early age,” he stated. “If you’re working in the intelligence community and you require a security clearance, you’re going to go through the proper vetting.”
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