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ANSIR
The Awareness of National Security Issues and Response
ANSIR 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, counter terrorism, 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 network. 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-Email increases the capacity for the number of recipients to exceed
100,000 which should accommodate every U.S. corporation and government agency who wishes
to receive information from the FBI. Interested U.S. corporations and law enforcement
agencies 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 information.
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