In recent years, WeChat leaks have been repeatedly prohibited and frequently occurred, making it a veritable "disaster area" for leaks. Psychology is the guide of action. From the perspective of confidentiality management practice and a large number of cases of leakage, WeChat leakage often comes from some wrong psychological cognition, which can be summarized as follows.
"Ostrich" psychology. Some comrades believe that WeChat has a huge amount of information to send, and the management of secret related information of the relevant departments cannot be comprehensive. Even if it can be fully covered, it is just a simple search with keywords, as long as the use of pinyin, letters, characters, homophones and other ways to blur, or take pictures, use voice, and transform the format to send, You can hide without knowing. This kind of psychology is just like an ostrich burying its head in the sand when faced with a threat. It is really deceiving itself. In the WeChat leak cases in recent years, many of the parties have taken clever evasive measures, and some have even taken the tactic of "withdrawing" quickly after the other party read it, but all of them have caused serious consequences.
Shortcut psychology. Some comrades just want to work efficiently, regardless of confidentiality discipline. When conveying the spirit of their superiors and leadership instructions, they feel that it is time-saving and labor-saving to use WeChat to send with one button and wait for a reply. This kind of psychology, after all, regards the confidentiality discipline as a "stumbling block" in the work, rather than a "safety rope" to protect the national security interests and personal future and destiny. On the surface, it is convenient for work, but in fact, it is convenient for enemy agents to steal secrets. In 2020, Li, a cadre of a unit, sent a secret notice through WeChat group, and was punished with administrative demerit recording after the case occurred. During the investigation, Mr. Li said frankly that his unit has more than 10 outsiders, and he wanted to take a "shortcut" when he had too many things on hand. He ignored the confidentiality discipline, and now he regrets it.
Show off psychology. Some comrades do not take confidentiality as their responsibility, but take it as their "skill" to know secrets. They know the confidential information that is concerned by the outside world in their work, and can't wait to "expose" it on WeChat groups, post it in the circle of friends, and openly "show off" the confidential information. This kind of psychology is essentially caused by vanity. In order to become "well-informed people" and "insiders" in the eyes of friends, they are willing to use confidential information related to national security interests as capital to enhance personal influence. In 2017, a reform plan in an area was initially determined. When a cadre of a unit saw it, he felt that it involved the vital interests of his friends in the circle. He took a draft of the plan privately, informed his friends through WeChat, and was sent to his unit's WeChat group by his friends, which caused crazy forwarding and heated discussion, causing serious interference to the overall reform situation.
Self forgiveness. Some comrades, when meeting urgent matters or materials urged by their superiors, feel that the top priority is to find ways to complete the task, and it is no problem to choose convenient WeChat contact. As long as their starting point is to work, even if they violate the confidentiality discipline, it is harmless and understandable. This kind of psychology, in essence, does not recognize the truth that once a leak occurs, it means returning to zero, so that the cart before the horse, right and wrong are reversed. In 2019, Liao, a cadre of a unit, used WeChat to convey a confidential emergency notice. Instead of regretting, he felt wronged when accepting the investigation, saying that "time is so tight that it is impossible to convey it without WeChat", until he faced the investigators' question of "why don't we send the backbone to communicate separately" and "whether it is more harmful to leak secrets or to delay in communication", Only then did he wake up and repent.
group psychology. Some comrades see others using WeChat to send confidential information, and think that even if they break the rules, they will not be held accountable. If they behave in such a "small matter", they will be regarded as timid. Finally, he became a prisoner of the "broken window effect", blindly following the trend and violating the confidentiality discipline. This kind of psychology, in essence, is to lose independent thinking in the face of common violations, shake the already weak sense of confidentiality, and be coerced into "running the red light collectively". In 2021, a cadre of a unit, You, received a secret notice during his duty. He thought that someone in the WeChat group used by the unit for communication often sent internal information, so he followed suit blindly and took photos to upload it. After the case happened, a tourist said to the investigation team: "I have learned the notification of WeChat leak before, but I always think that people around me will be fine if they send it like this, so they don't take the notification seriously."
Ignorance. Some comrades "don't know the secret when they are in the secret", and think that some secret information is not sensitive, so it is OK to send it to WeChat; Some comrades believe that WeChat itself adopts advanced security and confidentiality technology. As long as we send information point-to-point, we will not leak secrets; Some comrades believe that they just send information to colleagues, and will not spread to the point of "out of control". In fact, the Internet has always been an important source of intelligence collection, and the open Internet social platform is the focus of monitoring by intelligence agencies in various countries. Once information is released, it is like a broken kite. Once it is released, it spreads ten times, ten times, and ten times, and the spread range is completely uncontrollable. In 2021, Feng, a staff member of a certain unit, saw a newly issued secret related policy document, sent it to his colleagues through WeChat photo taking, and repeatedly explained "Don't spread it out". However, Shi did not keep his promise and instead sent documents and photos to others. Eventually, the chain of communication continued to extend and was out of control. Feng and Shi were seriously punished.
Watching psychology. Some comrades follow the life philosophy of "nothing to do with themselves, nothing to do with themselves". Seeing the confidential information spread by WeChat groups and WeChat friends, they think that if they want to be kind enough to remind them, they will be regarded as meddlesome, and if they report to the organization, they will be regarded as "stabbing in the back". As long as they "dive" and "watch" in silence, they will not find themselves accountable. As for not revealing secrets, they have nothing to do with themselves. This kind of mentality, in essence, is the idea of "good people" who do not want to offend people. In fact, it does not fulfill the obligation of citizens to keep secrets, but also encourages the unhealthy atmosphere of indiscriminate dissemination. In 2020, Lv, a cadre of a unit, sent confidential information in the unit WeChat group, and was forwarded by three WeChat groups successively. However, nearly 100 colleagues in these three groups did not have one to remind them to stop, and silently watched the full spread of confidential information. Finally, the three WeChat group administrators were held accountable.
If you want to cure a stubborn disease, you should first get rid of the demons in your heart. To curb the frequent occurrence of WeChat leaks, each of us must start from ourselves, guard against fear, strictly adhere to the bottom line, and jointly safeguard the security of national secrets.
Confidentiality (2022, Issue 5)