[Infowarrior] - DHS setting up counterspy unit

[Richard Forno]

Homeland Security setting up counterspy unit

By EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press WriterTue Aug 12, 6:20 PM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080812/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/homeland_spy_worries_4&printer=1;_ylt=Aiw8QzPmBgNmsI9.1EOZSA.WwvIE

Concerns about foreign spies and terrorists have prompted the Homeland  
Security Department to set up its own counterintelligence division and  
require strict reporting from employees about foreign travel,  
according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The new directive comes as the federal government increases its  
counterspy efforts across all agencies and raises the awareness of  
intelligence vulnerabilities in the private industry as well as in  
protecting government secrets.

The Homeland Security Department "is vulnerable to adversaries who  
seek information about our nation's homeland defense programs,  
classified or unclassified," Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote in the  
Aug. 4 memo to employees obtained by AP.

The agency, formed in 2003 after the 9/11 attacks, has about 216,000  
employees and posts around the world. It includes divisions that  
protect the country's borders, develop new radiation detection  
equipment, study and test infectious diseases, enforce immigration and  
maritime laws, protect the president and other dignitaries, coordinate  
disaster response, work to keep terrorists off of airplanes and other  
transportation, and monitor and prevent cyber-intrusions.

Homeland Security is creating a counterintelligence system now,  
because there is currently no place for such a function in the  
department — which was formed by 22 disparate agencies — said a senior  
U.S. government official who requested anonymity because he is not  
authorized to publicly discuss intelligence.

"We are still a relatively young department," Homeland Security  
spokesman Russ Knocke said, adding that the memo reflects the  
department's maturity over the past five years.

Counterintelligence is an organized effort to block an enemy's sources  
of information and access to sensitive material. It can also be used  
to give misinformation.

In his memo, Chertoff instructs that employees must tell a special  
security officer about any planned foreign travel. When the employee  
returns, the employee should report "any real or possible contacts  
with foreign intelligence services, terrorists or foreign criminal  
enterprises." This reporting, Chertoff says, will protect department  
employees who travel abroad.

Chertoff instructs employees to report suspected espionage behavior.  
Some examples:

_If someone asks an employee for classified and sensitive information  
or access to systems.

_If someone asks an employee traveling overseas to bring back an  
envelope or package.

_If an employee has regular contact with a person suspected of being  
part of a foreign intelligence service, terrorist group or foreign  
criminal enterprise.

While setting up a separate office dedicated to counterintelligence,  
the concept is not new to the department. In 2005, it published a  
brochure, "Espionage: How to recognize and report it," which includes  
a list of suspicious behaviors.

___

Associated Press writer Pamela Hess contributed to this report.