(NewsNation) — After 21-year-old National Guardsman Jack Teixeira was arraigned on charges of leaking classified documents, the government has faced questions of why a young, low-ranking service member would have access sensitive material. But the problem of securing classified information is bigger than one leak.
The current number of people with access to classified materials isn’t publicly know. The Director of National Intelligence issues a yearly report on the number of security clearance, however, the last available report is from 2019.
According to that data, more than 1.25 million people have a security clearance and access to Top Secret material while more than 1.69 million have access to confidential/secret material, a lower level of clearance. That adds up to more than 2 million people who are have access to confidential, classified documents.
While many of those with clearance are high-level military officers or politicians — generals, members of Congress, senior officials in various agencies — there are also lower level aids and support staff in military and government offices who will require security clearances to do their job.
“I don’t think people should be surprised, though, that somebody who’s relatively low ranking has these clearances,” said John Bolton, a former US National Security advisor and US ambassador to the UN. “You need people to move paper around, in the case of this individual, you need somebody to work the pipes of the computer system that holds the classified system together.”
Teixeira worked in information technology with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, a job would have involved maintaining technology infrastructure, including networks for storing classified material. It still isn’t clear exactly how Teixeira got his hands on the material he allegedly shared, and whether he accessed the materials in the course of his job or specifically went searching for it in order to share it.
The government has made efforts to restrict access and secure classified information, particularly after the leaks from Edward Snowden resulted in the release of thousands of files. Computers with top secret materials are kept in Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, or SCIFs, where any electronics that could photograph or record information are prohibited.
To some extent, those have worked. Snowden was able to smuggle a huge amount of material out of government facilities using a thumb drive. The latest leak, however, included photos of documents that appear to have been printed out and folded up to be smuggled out of secure areas, making it far more difficult to remove large numbers of files.
But the problem of classified material goes beyond deliberate leaks.
Recent revelations of classified documents found at the homes or offices of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump demonstrate how the government struggles to track and secure information that could be damaging to the country.
White House officials are supposed to track and secure classified material. But some reports suggest the sheer volume of classified material is overwhelming systems meant to keep them secure.
The government classifies more than 50 million documents each year. While documents are supposed to be declassified at a point when the information no longer poses a security risk, but that doesn’t always happen.
In the case of Teixeira, the government didn’t know a breach had happened until the documents began circulating on large social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. The photographs were initially shared on a private Discord server and the government doesn’t monitor online forums for potential security breaches.
Officials have also admitted they don’t know if other files were shared on Discord that haven’t yet made it to other networks, and cannot say for sure the leak is contained.
In the wake of this latest leak, officials say they are reducing the number of people with access to the types of material that was shared.
“I think what we need, more than anything else, is better ways to detect security risks like this, which can come at any level. the fact is, too many people do have access to classified information,” Bolton said. “It also takes a lot to move it around. That’s where the problem is, in this particularly, but I’m afraid there are many more out there. I worry about the lack of good investigation of people who get clearances.”
In the meantime, lawmakers continue to call for reforming the classification system to prevent national security.