Letter: Vigilance is the key to stopping espionage

Regarding “Justice Department files charges in espionage cases”: In my opinion, foreign nationals and their sympathizers should be under observation. Our national threat is not always directly from al Qaeda but other sources, too. I have a concern where I work but don't know whom to turn to.

We have several H-1Bs from China and related nations, and they have Chinese writing on their government PCs, plus they speak on the phone and to one another in Chinese and we don't what they could be saying. People seem to turn a blind eye to it, but I have concerns, even though they appear to be nice or legitimate workers. Sometimes it is the quiet ones we need to watch out for.

No one should be allowed to have any other language on his or her government PC or speak a foreign language over government communications lines/links. Personal communications should be done on personal cell phones as much as possible to keep the government links free for official duties. Cell phones are cheap and just about everyone has them, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

For government links, I think the Patriot Act should have carte blanche for analyzing legitimate threats and concerns. I know that at anytime my government communications are subject to monitoring, but they aren't monitored that much at this facility — at least not that I can see on the surface.

Vigilance is the key to stopping espionage, and we need more training in operations security, communications security, computer security and related measures. There can never be enough, even for refresher training.

Anonymous


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