Buzzfeed obtains FBI slideshow on identifying ‘insider threats’

A Freedom Of Information Act request filed three years ago by reporters at Buzzfeed News has revealed a FBI’s 2014 training slideshow on how to identify an “insider threat.” 

The slideshow, titled “The Insider Threat: Don’t Be A Victim,” lists warning signs FBI employees should be on the lookout for in order to stop potential leakers. Included behaviors range from bragging about knowledge of classified information to unscheduled and unexplained trips overseas, use of drugs or alcohol or those with “psychological conditions.” 

It also encourages employees to report “high risk behavior.”

“If you wonder, ‘should I report this?’ – then YES you should!,” one slide reads.

“YOU are the 1st Line of Defense!,” another adds.

A third slide warns about the dangers of posting classified information on social media accounts or even alluding to it.

“NEVER post anything sensitive or classified (or even hints at sensitive/classified information,” it reads.

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According to the FBI’s slideshow, which was created during the Obama administration and is still in use, there are 4 million people considered “insiders” with security clearances, and 860,000 of those have access to top-secret information.

The FBI has been dealing with a wave of such threats in recent months.

This week, hackers used stolen National Security Agency tools meant to exploit vulnerabilities in Windows operating systems to wreak havoc across the world and reportedly hold the latest “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie for ransom.

Buzzfeed’s publication of the slides comes one day after The Washington Post and others reported that President Trump disclosed highly classified intelligence information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador during an Oval Office meeting last week.

Trump on Tuesday defended revealing that sensitive information, saying in pair of early morning tweets that he has an “absolute right” to do so and venting frustration that, once again, details from his conversations with foreign dignitaries leaked to the press. 

“I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administration, to find the LEAKERS in the intelligence community,” he tweeted.