Booz Allen Hamilton Announces External Review

October 27, 2016

Booz Allen Hamilton has issued the following statement on its actions following the arrest of a former employee, from Craig Veith, Vice President, External Relations:

“We fired Harold Martin as soon as we learned of his arrest, and we have been fully cooperating with the FBI’s investigation. Because we are determined to learn from this incident and look more broadly at our processes and practices, we have taken an additional step of asking former FBI Director Robert Mueller to conduct an external review of the firm’s security, personnel, and management processes and practices. Director Mueller’s review began on October 19.

“We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards, take the trust of our clients seriously and are proud to support our country’s important national security missions. We are committed to doing our part to detect potential insider threats, which are complex and constantly evolving. Director Mueller has extensive experience in these areas, as well as an unparalleled reputation for integrity. We are confident that he will conduct an objective, thorough and valuable review.

“This external review is the right thing to do: We are an organization that prides itself on constant learning. If there are areas where Booz Allen can improve, we will address them.”

UPDATE  (December 2017):

As part of ongoing initiatives to strengthen security practices related to insider threats, Booz Allen Hamilton asked the law firm WilmerHale, under the leadership of former FBI Director Robert Mueller, to conduct a review of the company’s security, personnel, and management practices related to insider threats.  It sought to identify areas in which the risk management of insider threat issues could be strengthened, but did not focus on any particular incident.  

The thorough review found no major deficiencies in Booz Allen’s insider threat practices.  There were a number of recommendations that identified areas in which Booz Allen, the broader government contracting industry, and government agencies could improve their ability to identify insider threats in the ways they go about hiring and supervising employees.  The recommendations emphasized the importance of industry and government working together to approach security issues as a joint enterprise.  We are implementing each of the recommendations that we did not already have in place, and we have initiated discussions with industry peers and government clients to work together to address the challenge of strengthening practices related to insider threats.