A review by the Defense Department found that the growing number of military facilities that store classified information, along with the increasing number of personnel who work in those facilities, has outpaced the government's ability to implement security and oversight measures, The New York Times reported.
The review also found that the nation's secrets being leaked is not a "systemic problem," according to The Times.
The 45-day review of Pentagon policies and procedures was ordered in April by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III after 21-year-old Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira was accused of leaking top-secret documents and posting them to an online chat group.
The review recommended that the department take steps to tighten security around the handling of classified information.
Austin had previously warned that the Pentagon had a big security problem on its hands.
The review was designed to figure out whether Teixeira was an "outlier" in his efforts or if there were greater systemic issues that he exploited. It found that "there was neither a 'single point of failure' to explain Airman Teixeira’s disclosures nor any widespread breakdown in the military’s procedures for handling and overseeing confidential information," The Times' report stated.
"Instead, the review found that the spectacular growth in military facilities and people handling classified information, particularly since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, had far outpaced the military’s ability to keep that information secure, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the report’s major findings," the report added.
Read the full report over at The New York Times.
