Military eyes data security changes, amid Teixeira case

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has directed the military to take a number of steps to protect classified information in response to Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack D. Teixeira’s alleged leak of secret documents online, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

In a statement, the Defense Department said Austin has “issued guidance to Department senior leaders on actions they must take in the near- and medium-term for the Department to improve its accountability measures to prevent the compromise of [classified information], to include addressing insider threats.”

A 45-day review of Teixeira’s alleged disclosure of sensitive information found that the “overwhelming majority” of military personnel with access to classified material comply with security policies and grasp the importance of securing confidential documents, the Defense Department said.

But the review also identified areas “where the Department should improve its security posture and accountability measures.”

The development comes as Teixeira, 21, of Dighton, remains held without bail on federal charges alleging he violated the Espionage Act by releasing classified military secrets to a Discord online message group. He has pleaded not guilty.

In a related memorandum sent June 30 to all Defense Department personnel, Austin said the military relies on a “culture of trust and accountability” to safeguard its secrets.

Among the many directives Austin listed in the memo was to develop and maintain a “centralized tracking system” for DOD secure facilities by Dec. 31.

Another directive calls for developing “a Plan of Action and Milestones within 90 days to establish a Joint Management Office for Insider Threat and Cyber Capabilities to oversee User Activity Monitoring and improve threat monitoring across all DoD networks,” said Austin’s memo.

An unnamed senior defense official on Wednesday briefed reporters on the security review and Austin’s subsequent guidance, according to a transcript of the briefing posted to the Defense Department’s website.

The official said the military will seek to improve the “security posture at facilities used to develop process and store [classified material] and information sharing to ensure both appropriate security clearance eligibility determinations by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency and appropriate access management by unit commanders, supervisors, and their personnel.”

The official added that the number of people cleared to access classified information, as well as the number of secure facilities, has grown in recent years.

That growth “has underscored the need to have a comprehensive and evolving security in-depth posture,” the official said.

Teixeira, a cyber-defense operations journeyman assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod, is accused of leaking hundreds of documents containing classified military information about the Ukraine war and other sensitive intelligence matters.

He was indicted last month by a federal grand jury in Boston on six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.

The indictment alleges Teixeira may have released classified documents as early as January 2022, but specifically charges him with incidents between November and April. It alleges that he retained and transmitted the classified national defense information, including information regarding “the compromise by a foreign adversary of certain accounts [belonging] to a U.S. company” and how equipment in Ukraine would be transferred and used.

It also alleges he transmitted government documents, including one that describes the status of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, including troop movements, and another that discussed “a plot by a foreign adversary to target United States forces abroad,” including “where and how the attack on United States forces would occur.”

In a statement after Teixeira’s indictment, US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said Teixeira was “entrusted” with “information that reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if shared.”