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Practice Continued Even After Clinton Email Revelations.
The records were obtained in response to a February 2016 court order by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia following a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:15-cv-01772)).
The Judicial Watch lawsuit was filed in October 2015 after the Department of Homeland Security failed to comply with a July 2015 FOIA request seeking the following:
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All requests (in any form) submitted by senior DHS officials for waivers to use personal Web-based email accounts on government-owned computers.
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Copies of all waivers granted to senior DHS officials to use personal Web-based email accounts on government-owned computers.
Judicial Watch sought the documents following a Bloomberg News report revealing that 29 high-level Homeland Security officials, including Johnson, obtained exemptions from a February 2014 agency-wide ban on the use of web-based email systems due to increased security concerns. The waivers were granted despite security officials' warning of the risks of malicious attacks and data exfiltration from webmail use.
Included among the records is a February 19, 2014 memorandum from security officials at the Department of Homeland Security strongly warning: "According to the Office of the Chief Information Officer, access to webmail using DHS networks is responsible for almost half of all attempts to compromise DHS network security." The memo explains that webmail use resulted in 14 Trojan-Horse attacks in August 2013 and 25 attacks in December 2013 on Homeland Security computer networks.
As a result, in the same memo, Department of Homeland Security officials imposed a total ban on employee use of web-based email systems:
New restrictions are being implemented that will no longer allow employee access to personal webmail sites from government computers [Emphasis added]. This action is being taken to strengthen cybersecurity and enhance protection of the Department’s computer networks. Effective tonight, access to webmail sites like AOL, Hotmail, Comcast, Gmail, Yahoo, and other email services will be prohibited.
The records reveal that despite this strict prohibition, Johnson was given an exemption from the ban on the first day of its implementation simply because he liked to check his personal email from the office everyday...
MORE: www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/new-homeland-security-records-reveal-top-officials-exempted-strict-ban-placed-web-based-personal-email-accounts-despite-heightened-security-concerns
