Experts Available to Discuss White House Aims To Limit WikiLeaks Damage; Post-WikiLeaks Information "Big Chill"

--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ExpertSource:

“aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information.”

TOPIC:

Major media outlets are reporting on the fall-out from the latest WikiLeaks revelations. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the embarassing release of a quarter-million confidential cables by online whistleblower WikiLeaks an attack on America and the international community, adding that such leaks "tear at the fabric" of responsible government. Clinton said the administration was taking "aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information."

In damage-control mode, the Obama administration ordered a review of procedures governing the release of classified information, and the Office of Management and Budget has sent a memo to government agencies to create "security assessment teams" to ensure that people only have access to the classified information they need to do their jobs.

Accordingly, the Pentagon has already acted and has detailed new security safeguards. These include restraints on small computer flash drives to make it harder for any one person to copy and reveal so many secrets. Other agencies are enacting similar measures. The tightening of security is not surprising, considering that the prime suspect of the leaks boasted about how easy it was for him to make off with sensitive information: "Weak servers, weak logging, weak physical security, weak counterintelligence, inattentive signal analysis," Manning wrote. "A perfect storm."

Evidence that the U.S. intelligence community did not have the ability to predict the September 11 attacks because agencies were unable to share critical information led to lowering security requirements so that sharing would be possible. Various government agencies were given access to terminals in each other's data systems, and the Pentagon and State Department were allowed to share information on the same computer system.

Some intelligence officials are worried about a return to pre-9/11 "stovepiping", where information was walled off and policymakers were deprived of necessary decision-making data. Former CIA director and retired general Michael Hayden has urged intelligence professionals not to entirely reverse the data sharing that he calls a "war-winner,", though he appreciates the need for caution in who has access to what information.

As Joel Brenner, the nation's top counterintelligence executive from 2006 to 2009, put it: "The idea that you can share information without increasing the risk of leaking is foolishness," he said. "That doesn't mean you don't share, but you have to be really careful about how you do it."

EXPERTS: ExpertSource can offer several highly qualified experts to comment on this story:

Adam Bosnian, Cyber-Ark Software

Expertise: Got Privilege? How Elevated User Rights to Data and Systems Create Security Risks

Profile: Adam Bosnian is Executive Vice President Americas and Corporate Development at Cyber-Ark Software. He has more than 20 years of experience in defining and implementing successful security strategies for organizations that need to better manage insider and external threats while meeting goals associated with compliance and operational reliability. Bosnian specializes in the area of privileged identity management, focusing on the risks associated with powerful users or accounts with high-level and often anonymous access to sensitive applications, networks and systems. Bosnian can also address topics related to governed file transfer, including shortcomings of traditional document and information sharing methods such as the use of FTP, disks, couriers and USB flash drives, which can be expensive and vulnerable to security breaches. Prior to Cyber-Ark, Bosnian worked with Elron Software (acquired by Zix Corporation), InterSense and Spacetec Corporation.

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Susan Eisenhower , Eisenhower Group, Inc.

Expertise: international security affairs, technology policy, nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, space cooperation, russia, former Soviet Union

Profile: Susan Eisenhower is President of the Eisenhower Group, Inc, which provides strategic counsel on political, business and public affairs projects for major corporations and organizations. She also serves as Chairman of the Eisenhower Forum. Ms. Eisenhower's career combines three decades of foreign affairs experience in business, journalism communications, and the public policy/think-tank community. She is best known for her work on international security issues, including Russia and the former Soviet Union and on nuclear energy and non-proliferation issues. Her numerous affiliations include prior service as President and Chairman of the Eisenhower Institute and as a member of the Secretary of Energy's Task Force on Nuclear Energy. Current activities include serving as a Senior Advisor for the National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control and as a founding board member of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. A journalist by background, Ms. Eisenhower is a frequent media commentator, a best-selling author, and speaker at major international public policy venues.

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Mr. Robert Blitzer , ICF International

Expertise: Terrorism/Counterterrorism Expert with 26 yrs with FBI

Profile: Served as Chief, Domestic Terrorism/Counterterrorism National Security Division FBI Headquarters - 26 years as Special Agent and 12 years in counterterrorism. Testified numerous times before both Houses of Congress, oversaw responses to hundreds of congressional inquiries and delivered numerous speeches and briefings to public and private sector organizations. Managed numerous high profile investigations including the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing and the 1996 Freeman Standoff in Montana. Quoted in numerous publications and appeared on many televisions programs

Contact Information
Name: Mr. Robert Blitzer
Title: Expert in Terrorism and Emergency Preparedness
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PR Contact: Steve Anderson
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