McCaskill Calls on Booz Allen Hamilton to Address Mishandling of Passwords, National Security Information

Press Release

Following a report that Booz Allen Hamilton mistakenly allowed passwords of contractors with Top Secret Facility Clearance and other sensitive information including Pentagon files to be publicly accessible, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called for answers on what the company is doing to thoroughly investigate the matter and prevent similar incidents in the future.

"It's of vital importance that no one can gain unauthorized access to national security information--but Booz Allen Hamilton put passwords and other sensitive information out there for the world to see," McCaskill said. "This isn't the first serious incident involving this company, and it's critical we understand what they're doing to end this pattern."

In a letter to Booz Allen Hamilton CEO Horacio D. Rozanski, McCaskill wrote that the "report raises serious questions about the security protocols that [the company] has in place to prevent these types of occurrences." She also discussed her concerns that "this is just the latest incident where [the company's] ability to manage sensitive information has come into question, including the theft of classified information by Edward Snowden and Harold Thomas Martin III, both [Booz Allen Hamilton] employees working under federal contracts." McCaskill is requesting information by July 26, 2017 on how the latest incident was able to occur and what the company will do to prevent further mishandling of sensitive information in the future.

McCaskill has been a leader in fighting for reforms and oversight over the security clearance process. Last year, the Senate passed McCaskill-backed legislation that prohibits federal contractors and employees who have compromised the integrity of a background investigation from performing future background investigations. McCaskill and Senator Jon Tester of Montana have conducted extensive oversight over the transition of federal security clearance background checks to the newly-created National Background Investigations Bureau. In 2013, the McCaskill-backed Security Clearance Oversight Reform Act, which helps improve the integrity of the background check process, became law. The bill was introduced in response to a hearing led by McCaskill and Senator Jon Tester which revealed that the contractor who conducted Snowden's background check was under investigation.

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