FBI HQ Not Secure for Classified Intel

The FBI has long been criticized as a kind of technological trouble child. Its attempt to upgrade a key computer system has been a costly debacle. As of last year, about a third of FBI employees hadn’t been given e-mail, while two-thirds weren’t provided with computers.  

Add another item to the list: It turns out the FBI’s headquarters isn’t up to spec for handling classified intelligence. Steven Aftergood, at the Federation of American Scientists’ Secrecy News, noticed a report from the Senate Appropriations Committee complaining about the situation.

“The Hoover Building does not meet the Interagency Security Committee’s criteria for a secure Federal facility capable of handling intelligence and other sensitive information,” the Senate report stated.

“The Committee finds these conditions unacceptable and directs the Government Accountability Office [GAO] to review the Hoover Building and associated off-site locations, and provide an analysis of the FBI’s ability to fulfill its mission and security requirements under the present circumstances,” the report said.    

As Aftergood noted, the FBI is planning to build a “Central Records Complex” outside D.C. that will be capable of handling classified material. We put in a call to the FBI to ask when that project will be done and whether upgrading HQ itself is in the cards. We’ll let you know what they say.

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