IAEA boosts information security after WikiLeaks

VIENNA - The International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday it would boost efforts to protect sensitive information, in a move that coincided with recent leaks of documents on the exchange of information between the Vienna-based IAEA and Washington.

A Vienna diplomat stressed that the announcement was not triggered by the US diplomatic cables published on the WikiLeaks scandal.

But he added that “WikiLeaks underscores the need for information security for any national or international organisation”.

One cable published by the whistleblower’s organisation describes a detailed IAEA briefing on Iran for US House of Representative officials in November 2009, a week before the nuclear agency officially sent this information to its member states in a report.

Even before the WikiLeaks scandal, Iran has complained that information about its nuclear programme has repeatedly found its way from the IAEA to media outlets before the restricted reports are issued.

While it is an open secret in Vienna that the IAEA routinely keeps member states informed, a diplomat close to the agency said: “In diplomacy, lots of things work better unsaid, even if they are understood.”