That’s what computer security people have been saying for years: the weakest link in computer security is people. If you can’t trust your imperially conditioned and vetted civil servants, then really, who can you trust?
The security clearance process includes background checks against all kinds of things: credit checks to weed out people who could be compromised for money, history checks for strange party affiliations. I’ve been interviewed for friends undergoing Q Clearance checks and they were extensive: what religion did they practice, what hours did they keep, were they friendly, shy, introverted, did they talk politics, did they have any unusual habits etc.
That said, from watching the first part of the Frontline story, the hubris was really overpowering – these people thought they were in a godlike position, and they easily minimized the oversights (kudos to the various agents they interviewed who became disenchanted with the process and retired from the agency).
