Insider Threat: Your vigilance protects our nation

  • Published
  • By Daniel Knox
  • 88th Air Base Wing Information Protection Office

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Imagine an enemy walking among us, entrusted with our nation's sensitive and classified information, and intent on causing harm or disruption. September is National Insider Threat Awareness month, and a good time to remind us all that insider threats pose a significant challenge to our national security and that you, the Airmen (military, civilian and contractor) within our organizations, are the first line of defense.

Insider threats involve individuals with authorized access to our people, mission assets, infrastructure, and sensitive information, which could potentially endanger lives or impact missions vital to national security. The  collective obligation is to reduce the risk of malicious or negligent insider activity that may impede our ability to execute that mission. Always remember, if you see something unusual, don't just notice it; do something about it.

The Department of Defense has people and processes set up to ensure bad guys don’t gain access, and if they do, to detect those bad guys (or negligent good guys) before they cause harm. As with anything that includes the human dynamic, any countermeasure we develop can be overcome by smart people with the desire and resources to defeat that safeguard. Likewise, it sometimes only takes one smart person like you to prevent the loss of life, assets or sensitive information.

In a game of chess, for every move, there are countless countering moves that can be applied. Similarly, Insider Threat activities involve strategies and counterstrategies, making it crucial to identify the most effective move for a given operational need.

Current policies ensure that only thoroughly vetted individuals have access to sensitive information or critical infrastructure, through thorough background investigations and sometimes polygraph examinations.

However, these processes can’t capture  details that you may observe in your daily work environment. Your vigilance can prevent incidents such as the theft and compromise of classified information by Edward Snowden in 2013 and the Washington Naval Shipyard active shooter incident that same year in which an otherwise authorized contractor killed 12 people.  In hindsight, the perpetrators in both those incidents demonstrated reportable indicators of potential concern that were discounted or missed, and our goal is to learn from those mistakes and leave our team-mates better postured to understand possible threats.

Reporting observable indicators can have a profound impact on preventing threats. Consider the case of an airman who had unauthorized access to highly classified information and posted on a social media site. This event had career-ending consequences for many of those involved., The Office of Special Investigations and cyber experts identified OPSEC information, albeit all unclassified, in the social media post.

Even Wright Patterson Air Force Base has seen the intentional theft of classified documents, and the local defense industry has been the target of professional Chinese espionage agents. Most of the perpetrators in those incidents demonstrated reportable indicators as well.

Some simple measures you can take include reporting coworkers who demonstrate an intent to harm, exhibit actions counter to our oath of office, or display disregard for existing security standards, whether malicious or just negligent. Let someone know if you see indications of strange behavior handling classified information, or violations of security protocols. These reports are kept in confidence, if possible, held to a very high standard of scrutiny, and if unfounded, will not be held against anyone.

Just a few of the many sources the Air Force provides for reporting suspicious information include your supervisor, commander, director, chief, first sergeant, chaplain, inspector general, law enforcement, and security professionals. Any of them will ensure your concerns are addressed or directed to the proper authorities, and if you are wrong, that’s ok; they would rather take time to mitigate your concern than to address a possible problem that could arise if left unreported.

You are the most important part of the insider threat program. You are trained to understand and recognize indicators of potential threats. You also took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Your instincts could save lives and protect our nation from targeted attempts to compromise our information or damage our infrastructure.

Remember: If you see something, say something. Your team, your mission, and your nation are counting on you.

WPAFB Insider Threat contact information:

  • 911 to prevent loss of life, property or information
  • 937-257-0911 for WPAFB Emergency Services (Fire Department and security forces)
  • 937-257-6516/7 to contact the 88th Security Forces Squadron’s Base Defense Operations Center (non-emergencies)
  • 937-257-9603 or www.osi.af.mil/submit-a-tip to reach the Air Force Office of Special Investigations
  • 88ABW.IP.C-InTworkflow@us.af.mil to contact the 88th Air Base Wing’s Insider Threat liaison

For more about National Insider Threat Awareness Month go to https://securityawareness.usalearning.gov/cdse/nitam/index.html