NC3 Threats: Insider Edition
Overview:
Within her role as a communication advisor, Grace Farley attended a confidential discussion focused on Nuclear, Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) systems at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. While she is not at liberty to say all those who were in attendance, she is able to disclose that General John E. Hyten participated in the discussion. Within that year, the Senate confirmed General Hyten to be the nation’s second highest-ranking military officer as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
General Hyten’s newly appointed role entailed overseeing the nuclear operations of the United States and becoming the center of expedited strategic coordination for the U.S. military. Prior to this role, his career has included a variety of space and nuclear operations (Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Commander of Air Force Space Command, Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, and one of eleven Combatant Commands under the Department of Defense).
As the youngest participant and one of the few women in attendance at the discussion, Farley produced an insider threat podcast segment as it relates to the nuclear enterprises based off the work done with NC3 and U.S. Strategic Command.
Segment Guests:
Dr. Ronald Schouten - The Director of the Law & Psychiatry Service of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Schouten has served as an expert witness in both civil and criminal matters to include the Biological Threat Classification Program of the Department of Homeland Security. He has testified before the Congressional Subcommittee on Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attack. He was the mental health liaison to the September 11 Victims’ Fund and served on consensus panels drafting guidelines on workplace violence for the FBI.
Philip Reiner - Served as President Obama’s Senior Director for South Asia on the National Security Council staff at the White House. Within this position he served as the Senior Advisor for Afghanistan and Pakistan and as a Director for Pakistan at the NSC. Prior to these roles, he served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the Pentagon.
Dr. Peter Hayes - Co-founder and Executive Director of Nautilus Institute.
Formal Summary - NC3 Insider Threats , Insider Edition:
Threats arising from within NC3 systems can have particularly devastating consequences. Drawing on knowledge of insider threats from the nuclear enterprise and other fields, this paper examines fundamental concepts of insider threats and provides an overview of the extent and significance of insider threats. It outlines some current models of insider threat, including behavioral indicators, and current efforts at ensuring personnel reliability. Finally, it focuses on the vulnerabilities of the nuclear enterprise to insider threat in the current environment and discusses some challenges to addressing the insider threat problem on a global scale.
In this segment, Dr. Ronald Schouten concludes: "The risk of insider threats is real, global, and likely to increase along with world and domestic tensions and socio-cultural changes. Combatting that risk will require a comprehensive approach that recognizes cultural and societal differences, as well as awareness that policies, procedures, and technical solutions are dependent upon acceptance of the risk and the full engagement of the nuclear work-force."