US DoD wants a "Big Brother" System to Monitor Employees
The US Department of Defense, in an effort to prevent "insider threats", requested the development of a "big brother" system that would consolidate all the information on its employees in the digital space
Ami Rojkes Dombe
| 31/05/2016
Copyright: zveiger/bigstockphoto.com
After the Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden affairs and the OPM breach, the US defense community wants to know if any of its employees are potential risks. In a world of Big Data, Internet and social networks, the court is the only buffer between the desire of the defense establishment to know everything about its employees, and the employee's desire to keep the information private.
According to nextgov, The Defense Department is building a massive information-sharing system (source) detailing national security personnel and individuals cleared for accessing US secrets, to flag who among them might be potential turncoats or other "insider threats". The Pentagon is establishing a team of “cross-functional experts" trained in cybersecurity, privacy, law enforcement, intelligence and psychology for this purpose.
The insider-threat system also will share data pulled from public social media posts and "user activity monitoring" of employees’ private digital habits at work, the notice states. The surveillance of military networks may include keystrokes, screen captures, and content transmitted via email, chat, and data import or export.
Earlier this month, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper signed a policy that would authorize investigators to vet public social media posts when conducting background checks of national security personnel.
The insider threat technology also would disseminate equal employment opportunity complaints, security violations and personal contact records, the notice states. Logs of printer, copier and fax machine use would be shared through the tool. Public information from professional certifications – like pilot's licenses, firearms and explosive permits – would be fair game too, the notice states. The system will also provide access to traditional background check records like biometric data files, and self-reported "SF-86" forms detailing the medical and personal lives of individuals applying for security clearances.
Human rights activists claim that such system will allow the DoD to identify whistleblowers and people who are reporting the truth about the department's activities to the public.
The US Department of Defense, in an effort to prevent "insider threats", requested the development of a "big brother" system that would consolidate all the information on its employees in the digital space
Copyright: zveiger/bigstockphoto.com
After the Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden affairs and the OPM breach, the US defense community wants to know if any of its employees are potential risks. In a world of Big Data, Internet and social networks, the court is the only buffer between the desire of the defense establishment to know everything about its employees, and the employee's desire to keep the information private.
According to nextgov, The Defense Department is building a massive information-sharing system (source) detailing national security personnel and individuals cleared for accessing US secrets, to flag who among them might be potential turncoats or other "insider threats". The Pentagon is establishing a team of “cross-functional experts" trained in cybersecurity, privacy, law enforcement, intelligence and psychology for this purpose.
The insider-threat system also will share data pulled from public social media posts and "user activity monitoring" of employees’ private digital habits at work, the notice states. The surveillance of military networks may include keystrokes, screen captures, and content transmitted via email, chat, and data import or export.
Earlier this month, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper signed a policy that would authorize investigators to vet public social media posts when conducting background checks of national security personnel.
The insider threat technology also would disseminate equal employment opportunity complaints, security violations and personal contact records, the notice states. Logs of printer, copier and fax machine use would be shared through the tool. Public information from professional certifications – like pilot's licenses, firearms and explosive permits – would be fair game too, the notice states. The system will also provide access to traditional background check records like biometric data files, and self-reported "SF-86" forms detailing the medical and personal lives of individuals applying for security clearances.
Human rights activists claim that such system will allow the DoD to identify whistleblowers and people who are reporting the truth about the department's activities to the public.
