Moves To Limit Contractor Access To Secrets Meets Resistance - Reuters [View all]

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Moves to limit contractor access to secrets meets resistance
By Mark Hosenball and Andrea Shalal-Esa - Reuters
Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:56pm EDT

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(Reuters) - Industry executives and some corners of the U.S. intelligence community are pushing back against possible legislative moves to curb contractors' access to classified information. Following leaks by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, Senate Intelligence Chairman Dianne Feinstein is working on legislation intended to restrict spy agencies from assigning contractors like Snowden to sensitive jobs.

Snowden, who worked as a systems administrator at an NSA facility in Hawaii through a contract with Booz Allen Hamilton, exposed documents detailing the government's vast surveillance of Americans' phone and Internet data.

Since Feinstein pledged last week to curtail contractors' access to "highly classified technical data", both industry executives and security agencies have cautioned against such a move and any other perceived overreaction.

"In any system the weakest link is the insider," William Swanson, chief executive of Raytheon Co, told Reuters at the Paris Airshow, when asked about Feinstein's proposal. "I don't care whether you're in government or you're in industry. The question is what are the processes that you have in place. What kind of system do you have to protect information?"

A spokesman for Booz Allen Hamilton, which fired Snowden last week, said the company is not commenting further on matters linked to the Snowden leaks.

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen, a Democrat from Washington state, said industry executives were urging him to block legislation that would introduce severe restrictions on contractors. He also said that without contractors, the government would have to hire more workers, which would be expensive, especially as Congress continues to negotiate on a deficit reduction plan. "At least the contractors you can get rid of them if they're doing a poor job," he told Reuters at the Paris Airshow.

U.S. intelligence agencies are also quietly expressing resistance...

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More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/18/us-usa-security-contractors-idUSBRE95H1B020130618?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71&google_editors_picks=true