Report: FBI must change attitude on security

Recent scandals linked to 'pervasive inattention'

Hanssen spied on the U.S. for 22 years due in part to lax FBI security, the report concluded.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A much-anticipated report released Thursday blamed a rash of recent FBI humiliations, including the damaging discovery of a spy within its ranks, on the agency's cultural aversion to tough security measures.

The study, led by former FBI and CIA chief William Webster, said the FBI must make security a much higher priority or risk suffering more setbacks in investigations, intelligence and other agency matters.

"During our review of FBI security programs, we found significant deficiencies in bureau policy and practice," the study said. "Those deficiencies flow from a pervasive inattention to security, which has been at best a low priority.

"In the bureau, security is often viewed as an impediment to operations, and security responsibilities are seen as an impediment to career advancement."

The report acknowledged the FBI's culture of free-flowing top-secret information among agents makes investigations easier to conduct. But such an easy-access approach makes the bureau susceptible to spies like Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent who admitted to spying for Russia for 22 years.

EXTRA INFORMATION In-depth: The case against Robert Hanssen  • Hanssen profile  • Espionage glossary  • Intelligence community    RESOURCES Recent FBI embarassments

The FBI lost vast amounts of information of "incalculable value" to the Soviet Union and later Russia through Hanssen, who was arrested in February 2001. He pleaded guilty last July to 15 counts of espionage and, under his plea agreement, is expected to receive a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The FBI has already implemented some recommendations in the Webster report. Those measures include:

The report also said the bureau should conduct financial audits of its personnel to determine whether financial pressures could make employees more likely to spy for another country or group. The CIA conducts such audits of its employees.

The report recommended reducing the number of agents given top-secret security clearances, but FBI Director Robert Mueller has resisted such a move, saying it would make investigating crime more difficult.

The report cites such resistance from bureau leaders as a part of the problems.

"Although the FBI has begun to take steps to improve security, senior management has not fully embraced the changes necessary to bring bureau security programs up to par with the rest of the intelligence community," the report said.

For his part, Mueller downplayed any differences, saying the FBI is on track to accomplish the report's goals of tighter security.

"Ultimately, our goal goes beyond all the new technology, all the new training, and all the new procedures to make security as much a part of our culture as any other daily business that we do," Mueller said in a prepared statement.