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FAS Project on Intelligence Reform

Awareness of National Security
Issues and Response [ANSIR]

The FBI is the lead counterintelligence agency in the United States. It has the principal authority to conduct and coordinate counterintelligence and counterterrorism investigations and operations within the United States. The FBI, supported by other U.S. agencies as needed, conducts espionage investigations when the subject of the investigation is not under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense, Uniform Code of Military Justice. ANSIR is the FBI's program for the Awareness of National Security Issues and Response. The ANSIR program, formerly known as DECA (Development of Espionage, Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Awareness) disseminates information concerning national security matters.

ANSIR is the FBI's national security awareness program. It is the "public voice" of the FBI for espionage, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, , cyber and physical infrastructure protection and all national security issues. The program is designed to provide unclassified national security threat and warning information to U.S. corporate security directors and executives, law enforcement, and other government agencies. It also focuses on the "response" capability unique to the FBI's jurisdiction in both law enforcement and counterintelligence investigations.

Each of the FBI's 56 field offices has an "ANSIR" Coordinator and is equipped to provide national security threat and awareness information, on at least a monthly basis, to as many as 500 recipients. "ANSIR-FAX" is the first initiative by the U.S. Government to provide this type of information to as many as 25,000 individual U.S. corporations who have critical technologies or sensitive economic information that are targeted by foreign intelligence services or their agents. Each "ANSIR" coordinator in the FBI's is a member of the American Society for Industrial Security. This membership enhances public/private sector communication and cooperation for the mutual benefit of both. FBI "ANSIR" Coordinators meet regularly with industry leaders and security directors for updates on current national security issues. NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT LIST

The FBI's foreign counterintelligence mission is set out in a strategy known as the National Security Threat List (NSTL). The NSTL combines two elements:

Until recently the issue threat portion of the NSTL consisted of seven categories of foreign intelligence activity that were deemed to be significant threats to U.S. national security interests. They were:

The issue threat portion of the NSTL has recently been revised in concert with the U.S. Intelligence Community and key elements of the U.S. Government. As a result, the FBI identified eight categories of foreign intelligence activity that were deemed to be significant threats to U.S. National security interests. The FBI investigates the activities of any country that relate to any of these eight issues.

The Key Issue Threats are:

  1. Terrorism
  2. Espionage
  3. Proliferation
  4. Economic Espionage
  5. Targeting the National Information Infrastructure
  6. Targeting the U.S. Government
  7. Perception Management
  8. Foreign Intelligence Activities

The following is an explanation of the above Key Issue Threats:

  1. Terrorism

    This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated activities that:

    1. involve violent acts, dangerous to human life, that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or any state;

    2. appear to be intended :

      • to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
      • to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
      • to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping; and

    3. occur totally outside the United States or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to coerce or intimidate, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.

  2. Espionage

    This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves the identification, targeting and collection of U.S. national defense information.

  3. Proliferation

    This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments or persons, which involves:

    1. the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to include chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons, and delivery systems of those weapons of mass destruction; or
    2. the proliferation of advanced conventional weapons.

  4. Economic Espionage

    This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves:

    1. the unlawful or clandestine targeting or acquisition of sensitive financial, trade or economic policy information, proprietary economic information, or critical technologies; or
    2. the unlawful or clandestine targeting or influencing of sensitive economic policy decisions.

  5. Targeting the National Information Infrastructure

    This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves the targetting of facilities, personnel, information, or computer, cable, satellite, or telecommunications systems which are associated with the National Information Infrastructure. Proscribed intelligence activities include:

    1. denial or disruption of computer, cable, satellite or telecommunications services;
    2. unauthorized monitoring of computer, cable, satellite or telecommunications systems;
    3. unauthorized disclosure of proprietary or classified information stored within or communicated through computer, cable, satellite or telecommunications systems;
    4. unauthorized modification or destruction of computer programming codes, computer network databases, stored information or computer capabilities; or
    5. manipulation of computer, cable, satellite or telecommunications services resulting in fraud, financial loss or other federal criminal violations.

  6. Targeting the U.S. Government

    This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves the targeting of government programs, information, or facilities or the targeting or personnel of the:

    1. U.S. intelligence community;
    2. U.S. foreign affairs, or economic affairs community; or
    3. U.S. defense establishment and related activities of national preparedness.

  7. Perception Management

    This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves manipulating information, communicating false information, or propagating deceptive information and communications designed to distort the perception of the public (domestically or internationally) or of U.S. Government officials regarding U.S. policies, ranging from foreign policy to economic strategies.

  8. Foreign Intelligence Activities

    This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity conducted in the U.S. or directed against the United States Government, or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, that is not described by or included in the other issue threats.

Up to $500,000 Reward for Stopping Espionage

An amendment to Title 18, U.S.C., Section 3071, recently enacted, authorizes the Attorney General to make payment for information of espionage activity in any country which leads to the arrest and conviction of any person(s):

  1. ...for commission of an act of espionage against the United States;
  2. ...for conspiring or attempting to commit an act of espionage against the United States;
  3. or which leads to the prevention or frustration of an act of espionage against the United States.
In cooperation with other US Government agencies, the NACIC (National Counterintelligence Center) provides certain reports, as appropriate based upon classification and dissemination caveats, to US private firms with and without classified government contracts. The NACIC has responded to limited tasking from US corporations for threat information and will seek to make this service more available to private-sector customers.

The CIA's National Resources Division is responsiable for monitoring industrial espionage. The CIA provides information to the FBI for use, as appropriate and in accordance with memoranda of understanding and executive orders, in the ANSIR Program. On occasion, CIA briefs US corporate officials directly concerning the foreign intelligence threats facing US companies. CIA has presented these briefings, which describe the ways various countries conduct economic intelligence collection against the United States, to individual corporations and at industry-wide conferences, often with FBI participation. The briefings cover foreign economic activities worldwide, focusing on intelligence-gathering techniques used by specific countries. The Agency plans to offer another briefing on commercially available technical gear used by foreign services to conduct economic espionage against US companies.

As appropriate, CIA coordinates with other US Government agencies, specifically the FBI, before notifying a US company that it is the specific target. CIA also participates in planning and implementing an array of activities under the auspices of the NACIC's interagency Awareness Working Group. These programs are designed to inform and assist US companies that are actual or potential targets.

Sources and Methods



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Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Created by John Pike
Updated Sunday, January 04, 1998 1:55:52 PM