Stopping the Leaks

CACI International Executive Chairman Dr. Jack London says WikiLeaks is “just the tip of the iceberg” for national security issues.

What threat do you see WikiLeaks having dealing with national security, but also with that of Northern Virginia?
JL: It is the hint of a type of chaos coming along downstream, the tip of the iceberg. If you start thinking about the commercial side of this—national databases of banking records, banking records of individuals, health records, proprietary technology of organizations, … the implications are chaotic. … It is very important to recognize the vulnerability of organizations in this area. It is difficult to measure the extent of risk, but it certainly exists. The flip side … there are a number of high-tech IT, national security firms that will be focusing on these issues.

Do you think within the world that we are living the government is trying to hold onto more information and not make it more accessible?
JL: I know from a fact standpoint that there is a considerably increased level of numbers of documents that have been deemed to be classified. I don’t know if it is a volume issue or so much as an access issue. …There has to be debate on the policy side. You have the First Amendment implications that have to be balanced against the notion of national security.

Who gets to decide what is right for journalists to come out with?
JL: What do people need to know? What is important to know versus just making information available? …There has to be significant progress made in defining some of these issues—where the rights of the public exist versus the right of the public to be represented by the security establishment. … I’m not for a second willing to say that I have a silver bullet, but the debate is desperately needed.

(March 2011)