Heather Mongilio is a reporter with United States Naval Institute (USNI) news. She has covered local courts, crime, health, military affairs, and the Naval Academy, and recently published an article on the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigating a former Navy non-commissioned officer for her role in social media accounts that posted a series of leaked Pentagon documents.
For this episode of ClearedCast, Mongilio offers updates and highlights on this story, and what other similar classified information or insider threat headlines have in common.
Noting the signs of insider threats or properly handling classified information are obviously important topics for ClearanceJobs stakeholders, such as security clearance holders, cleared recruiters, security officers, or other government leaders.
Sarah Bils is a former aviation electronics technician 2nd Class who was last stationed at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, WA, and is allegedly behind a pro-Russian series of social media accounts under the banner of “Donbass Devushka,” The Wallstreet Journal first reported. USNI News continued to cover the story and the individuals behind the Donbass Devushka network.
Donbass Devushka is comprised of 15 people, and Bils noted that another administrator on the account posted at least four of the classified documents that were recently leaked by Massachusetts Air Guardsman Jack Teixeira.
Montigilio notes other stories with other similar themes of leaking classified information, including the case of former U.S. Navy nuclear engineer and his wife, Jonathan and Diana Toebbe of Annapolis, MD, a case involving an alleged plot to sell secrets about nuclear-powered warships to Brazil. This case is still ongoing.
There are other notable stories within our space, like Edward Snowden and Reality Winner, however, the drivers behind the recent Teixeira debacle seem to have different motivations aside from emotions, finances, and politics, which have all long been traditional motivators for malicious insiders. Military officials also caught Airman Jack Teixeira mishandling secrets months before he was charged with leaking documents.
Even though these stories are causing entities to inquire about the number of clearance holders, people showcasing classified documents to those with no “need to know” won’t be solved by reducing the number of security clearances.
To stay in the know for future updates, subscribe to the Daily Intelligence and Cleared Brief.
