WikiLeaks docs a poison pill for federal contractors

[Renew Deal]

Federal contractors are looking for ways to prevent their networks and employees from tasting forbidden fruit: the classified documents leaked by WikiLeaks.

Last week, the Office of Management and Budget notified federal agencies that access to classified documents, even leaked documents, is a violation of policy and, potentially, federal law. The memo made clear that the prohibition extends to contractors as well.

Calls have begun pouring into security firms that deal in content inspection and data analysis. Companies are worried any access to the leaked State Department memos by employees, even those contained in public press reports, could jeopardize federal contracts, says Kurt Bertone, vice president of strategic alliances for Fidelis Security Systems.

"We are getting a lot of calls from our existing customers ... they are really afraid of consuming information made public by WikiLeaks," Bertone says.

The worries over classified data extend to students as well. Some university officials are warning their students that posting links to documents leaked by WikiLeaks on Facebook and other social networks could cost them a future job with the government, according to a report in the Christian Science Monitor.
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http://www.infoworld.com/t/compliance-monitoring/wikileaks-docs-poison-pill-contractors-122

[nc4bo]

1. Yep, keep making it forbidden fruit and everyone will just go home and read all they want.

Or through their IPhones, Ipads, smartphones, etc.

Yep - keep right on squealing and more and more people will want to know what's all the noise about.

[LiberalEsto]

2. A friend of mine works for a federal contractor

He was sent a confidential e-mail warning him not to access Wikileaks either on his work computer, or on his own home computer on his own time.

This is ridiculous. How can these companies get away with telling someone what they can or cannot do in their own home on their own time?

[hootinholler]

4. Because their employees are at will

They need no reason to fire them, therefore they own them, or at least that's their mindset.

-Hoot

[Iterate]

5. Has he ever been prohibited from visiting any other sites?

You know what I mean, like white supremacist sites. Probably not.

The main reason the internet in the US is relatively open -and slow- is not the 1st Amendment, but that it best serves business and government interests, allowing them to monitor and market research. If it suits them, whatever parts they wish will be shut down. Tell your friend about the Tor network and net neutrality.

[SidDithers]

6. I think that part of the security clearance process is a question like...

"Have you ever accessed or attempted to access classified information?"

Reading the wikileaks info could mean that you'd have to answer the question "Yes", which may jeopardize your security clearance.

Not saying that's a good or a bad thing, just explaining what I've read.

Sid

[Iterate]

3. Important info for anyone in this situation

they can reach internet sites anonymously via the Tor network. It has been used effectively by dissidents worldwide for years and requires only a modest effort to learn to use properly.

The Tor project:
http://www.torproject.org/

If you have a small amount of technical ability and some spare bandwidth and server space, you can contribute to the Tor project by setting up a mirror or running a relay.

For posting to an anonymous blog, no problem, but I'm not sure about Facebook as it's an inherently social network and forwarding to a friend for them to post defeats the purpose.

It's hard to imagine this effort at repression won't end up with a court challenge.