Government employees are a prime target for spies and other espionage operatives. In the wake of several network intrusions that leaked information about federal employees — including the massive breach of the Office of Personnel Management — the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is trying to educate the workforce on how to spot potential espionage.
The ODNI released a 5-minute video (see below) entitled, "Know the Risk — Raise Your Shield: Human Targeting," that simulates an attempt to convert a federal employee into a foreign asset, unbeknownst to the employee.
"You don't have to work for the CIA or have access to the most prized information for you to be a target," said Bill Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center within the ODNI. "Oftentimes they go for people with access to information that is more germane to their nation's needs."
RELATED WEBINAR:Learn about fighting insider threats from ODNI's task force.
The video shows a federal analyst named James being targeted for social engineering while attending a conference. After a few seemingly innocuous interactions, the employee realizes something seems fishy (phishy?) and contacts the agency's security office.
"We're both economic analysts and none of the information is classified or anything," James says.
"It doesn't matter," he's told. "He may have acquired information about your background from one of the many recent data breaches you've heard about; he probably got information about your interests from social media."
The video is the third in ODNI's "Know the Risk — Raise Your Shield" series, with the first two covering how to recognize social media deception and spear-phishing attempts. The videos are a direct response to the OPM breach, which has been widely attributed to Chinese nation-state actors more interested in using the information for potential espionage than financial fraud.
There are two more upcoming installments in the five-part series, one on security tips while traveling and another on social engineering.
Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.
