Nuclear Security & Deterrence Vol. 18 No. 38
Visit Archives | Return to Issue
PDF
Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor
Article 7 of 12
October 03, 2014

NNSA Proposes $110,000 Fine for Security Incident at Nevada National Security Site

By Todd Jacobson

Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
10/3/2014

The National Nuclear Security Administration is planning to fine Nevada National Security Site contractor National Security Technologies $110,000 for four violations stemming from the unauthorized disclosure of classified information in 2010. The NNSA issued a Preliminary Notice of Violation to NSTec Sept. 26, describing the security breach publicly for the first time. NSTec could have been fined $220,000 for the four violations, but NNSA chose to decrease the fine because of corrective actions taken by the contractor since the incident. NNSA and contractor officials, however, couldn’t rule out the potential release of classified information, the NNSA said. “Both the NSTec inquiry and the DOE investigation concluded that a compromise of classified information could not be ruled out, and that unauthorized individuals had access to S/RD [secret/restricted data] information in hard copy and electronic forms,” the NNSA said in the notice. NSTec has 30 days to respond to the notice. The contractor did not respond to a request for comment.

According to the Preliminary Notice of Violation, 72 survey forms used by radiological control technicians from 2009 to 2011 and another 51 material control and accountability forms were erroneously marked as unclassified controlled nuclear information rather than secret/restricted data. The notice said that NSTec failed to perform a classification review on the survey forms as required. The NNSA said the completed survey forms “never received the requisite classification review and, in some cases, were inappropriately marked and not protected or controlled as required for classified information.”

NNSA: Security Weaknesses Should Have Been Identified by NSTec

The NNSA said NSTec also processed classified information on computer systems that were not certified and didn’t document its efforts to remove the material from the unclassified networks. NSTec also did not properly respond to the incident, improperly deleting some of the classified files from the unclassified network before the contractor’s cyber security division was contacted, allowing uncleared personnel to retrieve boxes of the suspected classified information, and “directing an individual not authorized as a derivative classifier/reviewing official to identify potentially classified files based on verbal guidance.” The NNSA also said that classified information was stored at unapproved locations.

The NNSA commended NSTec for self-reporting the incident, but it said the conditions that led up to the security breakdown existed for an “extended” period of time. “The NSTec security program weaknesses identified by DOE should have been identified by NSTec before being revealed by this security event,” the NNSA said. 

Comments are closed.

Partner Content
Social Feed

NEW: Via public records request, I’ve been able to confirm reporting today that a warrant has been issued for DOE deputy asst. secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition Sam Brinton for another luggage theft, this time at Las Vegas’s Harry Reid airport. (cc: @EMPublications)

Load More