After Jack Teixeira leak, Pentagon targets 'insider threats' to classified documents

WASHINGTON − The Pentagon has tightened security for secret documents after the massive leak of sensitive military information by a junior airman this spring, the Defense Department announced.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a memo outlining new and tightened policies designed to prevent illegal disclosures like the breach for which Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira stands accused. The federal government accuses Texeira, a computer tech at Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, of posting hundreds of secret documents, including assessments of the war in Ukraine, on a site popular with gamers.

Austin's memo Wednesday condensed the findings and recommendations of an internal review he had ordered into how the Pentagon safeguards some of the most sensitive information government agencies produce.

Among Austin's directives:

Bolster the security of the military's vaults for secrets, known as Secret Compartmented Information Facilities, or SCIFs. They must comply with security standards that apply throughout the government's intelligence agencies.

Ensure that users of these secret documents adhere to policies prohibiting use of personal or portable electronic devices while in SCIFs.

Appoint "Top Secret Control Officers" to enhance accountability and control of military secrets.

The Air National Guard member accused of retaining and transmitting classified defense information was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Boston on six charges under the Espionage Act.

Authorities arrested Teixeira, 21, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, in April, and he remains in federal custody. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in June. He faces six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to national defense. The documents include the location of U.S. spy planes, estimates of Ukrainian and Russian casualties and equipment losses, and U.S. assessments of Ukrainian forces.

Teixeira has pleaded not guilty. Essentially an IT tech, Teixeira had access to the military's internal internet system for secret information.

Austin, in his memo, wrote that the Pentagon relies on a "culture of trust and accountability" for those granted access to military secrets. The review "found that the overwhelming majority of DoD personnel with access to (national security secrets) are trustworthy."

But the review also identified areas "where we can and must improve accountability measures" to avoid leaks and to address "insider threats," Austin wrote.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Classified documents security tightened at Pentagon post Teixeira leak