美国国家公共电台 NPR--What can be done to stop the next attempt to leak military secrets?

What can be done to stop the next attempt to leak military secrets?

Transcript¹

The National Guard airman suspected of leaking classified data is in court Thursday. Experts say it will be hard to find a single solution preventing a bad actor from leaking classified documents.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The National Guard airman suspected of leaking classified documents is due in court today. His case has pushed the Air Force to ask how it can secure whatever secrets remain. Steve Walsh from our member station WHRO in Norfolk reports it's hard.

STEVE WALSH, BYLINE²: After Airman First Class Jack³ Teixeira was arrested on charges of leaking classified documents to an online chat room, commanders throughout the Air Force and Space Force were left with a question - what can be done to stop the next leak? Mark Cooter is a retired⁴ Air Force intelligence officer.

MARK COOTER: It's not sexy. Whatever is going to come out of this that's going to be effective, there won't be a one single thing that is going to keep this from ever happening again by doing this one thing. That never happens that way.

WALSH: Before he retired in 2013, Cooter commanded an intelligence unit at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. It coordinated⁵ with the Massachusetts National Guard unit where Teixeira was stationed.

COOTER: They were kind of hooked to us to provide additional capacity, and they were good at it.

WALSH: Intelligence continues to expand rapidly. Until Teixeira's guard unit was suspended from its intelligence mission after the leak was uncovered, it was one of 27 installations worldwide to handle one type of data. The unit was processing information from drones around the world.

COOTER: Not just the drones, but manned aircraft as well, processing images or video off of there and making products for the commanders or the warfighter.

WALSH: Cooter says one of the many things commanders will have to consider is whether too much classified information ends up on paper because some people don't want to read it off of a computer screen. But each leak is different, says CrowdStrike co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch. He points to the fact that Teixeira was found to have circulated racist⁶ memes along with the classified material.

DMITRI ALPEROVITCH: I would argue that any time you have a racist person inside your organization, whether it's a military intelligence community or even a company out there, that's going to be, at a minimum, highly disruptive, to say the least.

WALSH: Teixeira released reams of documents onto a private Discord⁷ chat room to a group of mainly young gamers. He hasn't spoken publicly since his arrest. So far, he hasn't relayed signs that he was trying to impact U.S. policy.

ALPEROVITCH: Well, it's clear here that he wanted to potentially look cool, hanging out on this chat room. That's something that you can look for. I think we need to do a much better job of identifying those types of people that may be trying to get information out there to beef up their own reputations.

WALSH: He thinks commanders need to look at whether they are relying too heavily on younger airmen. The New York Times reports Teixeira may have begun sharing classified material on Discord as far back as the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. That's only four months after the 21-year-old began working full-time⁸ for the guard unit.

SINA BEAGHLEY: That's a real hard one for me.

WALSH: Sina Beaghley is with the RAND Corporation.

BEAGHLEY: Because there are substantial number of individuals in their late teens and early 20s performing exceptionally in national security missions, and we need those individuals.

WALSH: Beaghley coordinated the National Security Council review after Edward Snowden, a low-level IT contractor⁹ who was caught leaking thousands of classified documents. She says the vetting¹⁰ process for security clearances¹² does monitor social media, a daunting¹³ task when an estimated 4 million people have some type of security clearance¹¹.

BEAGHLEY: They can see, when an individual posts publicly, if they can attribute the social media presence to the individual. If someone's posting in an anonymous¹⁴ way, there's a lot of gaps. But how do you get some kind of social media monitoring on 4 million cleared individuals? So these are big challenges.

WALSH: Commanders have 30 days to brief the men and women under them on how to guard against future leaks. Meanwhile, the commander of the Massachusetts Air National Guard where Jack Teixeira worked has been relieved, pending¹⁵ investigation¹⁶.

For NPR News, I'm Steve Walsh.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

5 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

7 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

8 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

9 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

10 vetting   

n.数据检查[核对，核实]v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的现在分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• Scripts had to be submitted to Ministry of Information officials for vetting. 必须把脚本提交给信息部官员审查。 来自互联网
• Their purpose in clicking deeper into a site is one of vetting. 他们深入点击网站的目的是一种诊疗。 来自互联网

11 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

12 clearances   

清除( clearance的名词复数 )； 许可； （录用或准许接触机密以前的）审查许可； 净空

参考例句：

• But I can't get to him without clearances. 但是没有证明我就没法见到他。
• The bridge and the top of the bus was only ten clearances. 桥与公共汽车车顶之间的间隙只有十厘米。

13 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

14 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

15 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。