White House Specifies Classified Data Assessment Requirements

In response to the WikiLeaks scandal, agencies must report by Jan. 28 how they manage and protect national security information.

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Federal agencies have until Jan. 28 to assess how they manage classified national security information to comply with a White House order in the wake of the WikiLeaks scandal in November.
On Nov. 28, the Obama administration
directed agencies
to review safeguarding procedures for federal data thats been categorized as classified. The move came after nearly 2,000 confidential U.S. embassy cables were published on the WikiLeaks website and then online via a host of international news outlets, including the
New York Times
, the United Kingdoms
Guardian
, and Frances
Le Monde
.
In an Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
memo
released Monday, the White House laid out specifically what agencies must do to meet the terms of the order.
The memo also reminds some agencies to provide the White House with information about the security of classified computers networks and systems, a move that is separate from the general assessment all agencies must complete by Jan. 28.
Agencies are required to report to the OMB what theyve done or plan to do to address identified vulnerabilities, weaknesses, or gaps in automated systems containing classified information, according to the memo. They also must assess any plans for changes or upgrades to classified networks, systems, applications, databases, Web sites, and online collaboration environments.
The order also demands that agencies assess all security, counterintelligence, and information assurance policy and regulatory documents that are specific to them.
Last years
leak of
embassy documents to WikiLeaks -- an international scandal that has been called Cablegate -- has renewed the governments interest in locking down federal networks that handle classified information. This activity in turn is providing new opportunities for security firms and solution providers to help agencies in this endeavor.
Fidelis Security Systems, for example,
recently won contracts
with several agencies to block classified content from the Web from reaching unclassified federal networks.
In an unrelated but similar move, the
Air Force
is preventing its personnel from accessing the websites of global news agencies that published the WikiLeaks cables.
Editors note: The article was amended to accurately reflect the number of diplomatic cables that have been published by WikiLeaks.

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White House Specifies Classified Data Assessment Requirements