The Obama administration ordered a government-wide review of how agencies safeguard sensitive information after millions of classified State Department documents were leaked by online whistleblower Wikileaks.

According to a memo obtained by The Associated Press, the Office of Management and Budget told agencies to establish security assessment teams to ensure that employees do not have broader access to classified information than what is needed to do their jobs.

OMB director Jacob Lew said the failure of agencies to safeguard classified information was unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

“Any unauthorized disclosure of classified information is a violation of our law and compromises our national security,” Lew said in the memo.

The most recent Wikileaks release on Sunday of more than a quarter-million cables include “brutally candid assessments” of world leaders, Politico reports. The cables also included previously undisclosed details of nuclear and antiterrorism activity.

The “undiplomatic bluntness” of some cables are sources of embarrassment to American diplomacy, according to Politico.

The Wikileaks fiasco has drawn attention to the Obama administration’s challenge to projecting American power.

A senior American diplomat told Poltitico, “I don’t see the world ending … but lots of red, sputtering faces in D.C., embassies and capitals.”

This story is part of our daily DorobekINSIDER Must Reads. Be sure to check out the full list of stories.

(Copyright 2010 by Federal News Radio and The Associated Press.)

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.