Pentagon to update classified intel access following leaks

The Pentagon will alter how its military personnel access classified information and put in place new measures to better identify possible “insider threats,” after a massive leak of top-secret documents earlier this year, defense officials said Wednesday.  

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in April ordered a 45-day internal security review of Pentagon policies and procedures after a junior Air National Guardsman, Jack Teixeira, was accused of leaking a trove of classified documents online. 

Teixeira, 21, allegedly posted hundreds of documents with significant intelligence on adversaries and allies to Discord, a messaging platform popular in gaming communities, and in June pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges. 

The leak set off a scramble to determine whether the Pentagon had a larger security problem at hand or if Teixeira was simply a one-off. 

The subsequent review, released Wednesday, found that that while the Defense Department (DOD) “should improve its security posture and accountability measures,” it does not have a widespread issue with keeping its secrets safe. 

“The overwhelming majority of DoD personnel with access to classified national security information (CNSI) comply with security policies, processes, and procedures, and recognize the importance of information security in maintaining our national security,” according to a summary of the report’s findings. 

The review also led to several recommendations that include updating the Pentagon’s “need to know” procedures, a U.S. defense official told reporters.

That means the DOD will better monitor who has access to and views classified documents and whether those individuals have a valid reason for it.  

In addition, investigators recommended that the DOD put more resources toward tightening security around handling secret information, including stricter rules to keep electronic devices out of classified work areas to prevent images or recordings being taken. 

Teixeira, who served in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, had a relatively low-ranking position as a technology support staffer. But the role still came with access to the Pentagon’s Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System, a clearinghouse for intelligence information. 

He first started doling out military secrets on Discord by summarizing intelligence reports before eventually printing and taking photographs of classified intelligence and posting it to the website. 

Printing, photographing and sharing classified information is a crime, though many were shocked by how long Teixeira was able to do so undetected.  

What’s even more startling is prior to the leak Teixeira had been admonished twice — in September and October 2022 — for “concerning actions” related to his handling of classified information, according to a Justice Department filing.  

He was still allowed to keep his top-secret security clearance and was not removed from his job after the incidents.  

While the review found that there was no “single point of failure” in the leak, it concluded that an explosion in the number of military facilities and individuals that handle classified information in the past 20 years has outgrown the Pentagon’s ability to keep secrets secret.  

“I think what this is is an opportunity and a reminder to the department to consistently check in with their processes for both accountability of our personnel and our facilities to make sure that we’re keeping pace with the growth and the proliferation of that type of work,” the official said.