FBI's National Security Awareness Program

The Awareness of National Security Issues and Response (ANSIR) Program is the FBI's National Security Awareness Program. It is the "public voice" of the FBI for espionage, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, economic espionage, cyber and physical infrastructure protection and all national security issues. The program is designed to provide unclassified national security threat and warning information to U.S. corporate security directors and executives, law enforcement, and other government agencies. It also focuses on the "response" capability unique to the FBI's jurisdiction in both law enforcement and counterintelligence investigations.

Information is disseminated nationwide via the ANSIR-Email and ANSIR-FAX networks. Each of the FBI's 56 field offices has an ANSIR coordinator and is equipped to provide national security threat and awareness information on a regular basis to corporate recipients within their jurisdiction. ANSIR-FAX was the first initiative by the U.S. government to provide this type of information to as many as 25,000 individual U.S. corporations with critical technologies or sensitive economic information targeted by foreign intelligence services or their agents. ANSIR-Email increases the capacity for the number of recipients to exceed 100,000 which should accommodate every U.S. corporation who wishes to receive information from the FBI. Interested U.S. corporations should provide their email address, position, company name and address as well as telephone and fax numbers to the national ANSIR Email address at ansir@leo.gov. Individual ANSIR Coordinators in the respective field divisions will verify contact with each prospective recipient of ANSIR Email advisories.

The FBI is the lead agency for a variety of national security concerns. With regard to foreign counterintelligence activity, theft of U.S. technology and sensitive economic information by foreign intelligence services and competitors has been estimated by the White House and others to be valued up to a hundred billion dollars annually. It is therefore prudent and necessary that we provide information to those who are the targets of this activity. Critical infrastructure protection, both cyber and physical, is also a major focus of the FBI and the ANSIR program helps to identify these infrastructures and ensure that communication with the FBI is established.

Each ANSIR coordinator in the FBI's 56 field offices is a member of the American Society for Industrial Security. This membership enhances public/private sector communication and cooperation for the mutual benefit of both. FBI ANSIR Coordinators meet regularly with industry leaders and security directors for updates on current national security issues.

The ANSIR program focuses on the "techniques of espionage" when relating national security awareness information to industry. Discussing techniques allows us to be very specific in giving industry representatives tangible information to help them decide their own vulnerabilities. These techniques include compromise of industry information through "dumpster diving" where Foreign Intelligence Services and competitors may try to obtain corporate proprietary information, or listening devices which may be as simple as using a police scanner to tune in the frequency of the wireless microphone being used in the corporate boardroom. Through the ANSIR program and the discussion of techniques of espionage corporations are able to learn from the experiences of others enabling them to avoid adverse results.

Along with awareness, the ANSIR program provides information about the FBI's unique "response" capability with regard to issues of national security. The FBI has primary jurisdiction for a variety of criminal and counterintelligence investigations which impact on national security. For instance, the recent passage of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 opened up new areas of FBI response to the wrongful acquisition of intellectual property. It also encourages corporations to consider how best to protect their proprietary information or trade secrets from both domestic and foreign theft.

The FBI ANSIR Coordinator in the local field office is the point of contact for information about the FBI's national security programs and also to receive initial information which may result in a response by the FBI. U.S. corporations should also contact the local ANSIR Coordinator to receive ANSIR-Email or ANSIR-FAX information.

The FBI's foreign counterintelligence mission is set out in a strategy known as the National Security Threat List (NSTL). The NSTL combines two elements:

• First, it includes nationalsecurity threat issues regardless of the country of origin.
  
  
• Second, it includes a classified list of foreign powers that pose a strategic intelligence threat to U.S. security interests.

The issue threat portion of the NSTL was developed in concert with the U.S. Intelligence Community and key elements of the U.S. Government. As a result, the FBI identified eight categories of foreign intelligence activity that were deemed to be significant threats to U.S. National security interests. The FBI will investigate the activities of any country that relate to any of these eight issues.

The Key Issue Threats are:

1. Terrorism
   
   
2. Espionage
   
   
3. Proliferation
   
   
4. Economic Espionage
   
   
5. Targeting the National Information Infrastructure
   
   
6. Targeting the U.S. Government
   
   
7. Perception Management
   
   
8. Foreign Intelligence Activities

The following is an explanation of the above Key Issue Threats:

1. Terrorism
   
   
2. This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated activities that:
   
   
   1. involve violent acts, dangerous to human life, that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or any state;
      
      
   2. appear to be intended:
      
      
      • to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
        
        
      • to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
        
        
      • to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping; and
      
      
   3. occur totally outside the United States or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to coerce or intimidate, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.
   
   
3. Espionage
   
   
4. This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves the identification, targeting and collection of U.S. national defense information.
   
   
5. Proliferation
   
   
6. This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments or persons, which involves:
   
   
   1. the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to include chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons, and delivery systems of those weapons of mass destruction; or
      
      
   2. the proliferation of advanced conventional weapons.
   
   
7. Economic Espionage
   
   
8. This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves:
   
   
   1. the unlawful or clandestine targeting or acquisition of sensitive financial, trade or economic policy information, proprietary economic information, or critical technologies; or
      
      
   2. the unlawful or clandestine targeting or influencing of sensitive economic policy decisions.
   
   
9. Targeting the National Information Infrastructure
   
   
10. This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves the targeting of facilities, personnel, information, or computer, cable, satellite, or telecommunications systems which are associated with the National Information Infrastructure. Proscribed intelligence activities include:
    
    
    1. denial or disruption of computer, cable, satellite or telecommunications services;
       
       
    2. unauthorized monitoring of computer, cable, satellite or telecommunications systems;
       
       
    3. unauthorized disclosure of proprietary or classified information stored within or communicated through computer, cable, satellite or telecommunications systems;
       
       
    4. unauthorized modification or destruction of computer programming codes, computer network databases, stored information or computer capabilities; or
       
       
    5. manipulation of computer, cable, satellite or telecommunications services resulting in fraud, financial loss or other federal criminal violations.
    
    
11. Targeting the U.S. Government
    
    
12. This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves the targeting of government programs, information, or facilities or the targeting or personnel of the:
    
    
    1. U.S. intelligence community;
       
       
    2. U.S. foreign affairs, or economic affairs community; or
       
       
    3. U.S. defense establishment and related activities of national preparedness.
    
    
13. Perception Management
    
    
14. This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves manipulating information, communicating false information, or propagating deceptive information and communications designed to distort the perception of the public (domestically or internationally) or of U.S. Government officials regarding U.S. policies, ranging from foreign policy to economic strategies.
    
    
15. Foreign Intelligence Activities
    
    
16. This issue concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity conducted in the U.S. or directed against the United States Government, or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, that is not described by or included in the other issue threats.

You may be the target of foreign intelligence activity if you or your company are associated with critical technologies. Foreign powers may also seek to collect U.S. industrial proprietary economic information and technology, the loss of which would undermine the U.S. strategic industrial position. Foreign intelligence collectors target corporate marketing information in support of their nation's firms. Overseas travel, foreign contact, and joint ventures may further increase your exposure to the efforts of foreign intelligence collectors. If you suspect possible foreign intelligence activity, or have questions concerning the National Security Threat List strategy, please contact the FBI ANSIR Coordinator at the FBI Field Office nearest you.

An amendment to Title 18, U.S.C., Section 3071, recently enacted, authorizes the Attorney General to make payment for information of espionage activity in any country which leads to the arrest and conviction of any person(s):

1. ...for commission of an act of espionage against the United States;
   
   
2. ...for conspiring or attempting to commit an act of espionage against the United States;
   
   
3. or which leads to the prevention or frustration of an act of espionage against the United States.

Specifics of this amendment can be obtained from any FBI ANSIR Coordinator.

FBI Contact Numbers:

To report suspected illegal intelligence or terrorism activity against the interest of the United States, telephone the ANSIR Coordinator at the FBI Field Office nearest you.