Lab director orders actions in response to security incident

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., June 13, 2000 - Los Alamos National Laboratory Director John Browne is taking a wide range of actions in response to the two hard drives containing classified information missing from the Department of Energy laboratory.

These actions result from the Laboratory's inquiry into the incident. A separate joint Department of Energy/Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry is underway.

Efforts continue to locate the missing media or to determine if they were inadvertently destroyed.

The actions, developed in consultation with the University of California, include an assessment of the integrity of areas where classified information is stored, evaluation of procedures for handling classified information and a review of physical access to areas in which classified programs are conducted.

"This incident is a serious security matter and extremely disturbing and disappointing to me both professionally and personally," Browne said. "The Laboratory has made great strides in improving our security program and those improvements have been validated in exhaustive DOE and outside audits. I am asking our employees to renew their personal commitment to security and to reexamine their performance in light of lessons learned from this incident.

"As an institution, we are responsible for continually evaluating and strengthening our security systems to make them as effective as possible," Browne continued. "As individuals we are all responsible for adhering to the requirements of those security systems and the basic tenets of security."

In addition, UC, which manages Los Alamos, will conduct a separate, independent review focused on laboratory management performance and practices related to this incident. The review will determine how well Los Alamos has carried out its management responsibilities, from the Laboratory director to the group and program managers.

Among the actions ordered by Browne are:

• As of 5 p.m. MDT Monday, organizations with weapons information were placed on standdown to conduct self-assessments of security practices, assess the storage status of portable electronic media and plan for any necessary corrective actions.
• The Laboratory previously suspended work in the organizations that potentially were involved and the Security and Safeguards Division conducted a thorough search of vaults, vault-type rooms and classified material containers in those organizations. That search was in addition to the verification and validation of the physical integrity of nearly all vaults potentially affected by impacts associated with the Cerro Grande Fire, such as power loss or smoke damage. This inspection was conducted as part of the restart process after the fire.
• Over a 72-hour period starting June 1, the Laboratory conducted an inquiry that included more than 200 interviews with Laboratory employees.
• The Security and Safeguards Division has conducted an assessment of operations, procedures and policies for vaults across the entire Laboratory, including specifics of how information is controlled and verification of which individuals have a need to know specific classified information. The Laboratory also is reviewing vault access lists to verify compliance with procedures.

Additional actions are being developed and implemented.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy.