Marines are warned not to read leaked 'drone files'

Curious Marines, be warned: Reading this could get you in a whole lot of trouble. "The Drone Papers," published on Thursday by The Intercept, contain classified files explaining the ins and outs of how the U.S. drone program is run. Though the information is now easily accessible, it's still technically classified — which means that service members, civilian employees, and government contractors put their security clearance at risk just by taking a peek, the Jacksonville Daily News reports.

"Just like with the 'Wikileaks' disclosures, individuals holding security clearances are technically not supposed to review the materials contained in the drone strike stories published by The Intercept," a national security attorney, Bradley P. Moss, told the Jacksonville Daily News. "The leaked materials are still considered classified and viewing classified documents, to which clearance holders are not authorized access is again, technically speaking, a security violation."

The United States has not yet confirmed the authenticity of the documents published by The Intercept, nor has Moss heard of people with security clearances confessing to viewing documents that would technically violate parts of the 1917 Espionage Act. Even so, it's better to be safe than sorry — and that means no peeking.

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