http://www.lamonitor.com/articles/2006/11/29/headline_news/news01.txt By ROGER SNODGRASS Monitor Assistant Editor November 30, 2006 A special inquiry into the most recent security breach at Los Alamos National Laboratory has uncovered "significant deficiencies and vulnerabilities that need to be addressed," said Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman in a statement Tuesday. On Oct. 17, police investigators found classified material in the Los Alamos mobile home of a former employee of a laboratory contractor. During a follow-up search images of apparently classified documents were found on a jump drive and several hundred hardcopy pages of laboratory documents with classified markings were recovered, according to the results of the special inquiry. The case is in the hands of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but Bodman also requested the department's Inspector General, Gregory H. Friedman, to conduct a special inquiry last month. The results, Bodman said, contain information that cannot be disclosed to the public. But because of public interest, in the matter, he decided to release the cover letter from the IG's report. Friedman's overview bulleted three flaws he considered serious: * In a number of key areas, security policy was non-existent, applied inconsistently or not followed; * Critical cyber security internal controls and safeguards were not functioning as intended; and * Monitoring by both laboratory and federal officials was inadequate. "Regardless of the outcome of the FBI investigations, just the unauthorized removal of the classified material from the lab marks a significant breach of security protocol and of the public trust," Bodman wrote. We cannot correct the errors of the past. But we can learn from this incident and we will do better." LANL Director Michael Anastasio released memorandum he sent to all employees Tuesday, with an update an actions that have been taken in the response to the security breach. That response has so far included a presentation of a list of short-term improvements and establishment of a security action team headed by Principal Associate Director for Operations Jan Van Prooyen. Anastasio recounted the immediate efforts, including a list of reviews, restrictions and engineered controls in the classified computer area. Another layer of security has been added, Anastasio indicated, including a pause in all scanning of classified documents, an enhanced procedure for physical searches and more random searches - now averaging 100 a day. The laboratory has brought in cyber-security experts from the partner companies of the management entitity, Los Alamos National Security, LLC, and their recommendations will be reviewed and incorporated into a new set of policies and procedures. Since the current breach apparently caught the laboratory inadequately prepared to deal with new memory devices like memory sticks and iPods and easy transfer devices like flash drives, the managers have also chartered a Red Team of experts to provide technical advice for avoiding the next generation of security risks. A spokesman for the secretary said that policy related to security liabilities by laboratory contractors is being assessed. DOE's Craig Stevens said the secretary expected results. "We recognize this is a new contractor that has only been on the job a couple of months. We didn't expect all the problems to suddenly go away," he said. "The secretary has laid it at the feet of the laboratory to get the lab fixed," he said, adding that more would be expected than "wringing of hands and paperwork and setting of policy." Sen. Pete Domenici, who chairs the Senate Energy and Water Committee, responded to the announcement with a prepared statement this morning. "I will review this classified report and will work to ensure the lab and Energy Department implement previously proposed reforms that have yet to be fully implemented, as well as immediately act to execute the new procedures and practices identified by the IG," he said. "I believe Secretary Bodman and Lab Director Mike Anastasio take these matters seriously and will work to put these recommended reforms in place." Bodman's announcement said he has directed the department's Chief Information Officer Tom Pyke to follow up as appropriate on the IG report in upgrading the department's cyber security policies and procedures. As was the case, during the false security breach that shut the laboratory down for several months starting in July 2004, the department will take the opportunity to assess the policies and procedures "complex-wide" - in this case, for "issuing and maintaining personnel security clearances." _____________________________ Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org/mailman/listinfo/isn
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