FBI Albany Division
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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