Overview[]
The FBI's Development of Espionage, Counterintelligence, and Counterterrorism Awareness (DECA) Program (now renamed ANSIR (Awareness of National Security Issues and Response)) provided an interface with the U.S. corporate community through which the FBI not only conveyed information but also obtained investigative leads from corporations concerning foreign government and corporate attempts to illicitly collect U.S. economic and technological information.
The DECA Program was the FBI's public voice and educational medium for communicating foreign threat information, especially the economic espionage threat, to the private sector. The DECA Program was in place for over 26 years and was an integral part of the FBI's foreign CI program. DECA coordinators in each of the FBI's 56 field offices had regular liaison with companies located in the field offices' territories. The DECA coordinators furnished briefings, videotapes, pamphlets, and other materials to help the private sector understand and recognize foreign economic espionage threats directed at them. The content of briefings and material provided was tailored to the specific needs and concerns of each company. The DECA coordinators also discussed the various methods employed by foreign governments to accomplish their intelligence collection goals.
The DECA Program was a national effort with management, direction, and analytical support from FBI Headquarters. As needed, FBIHQ provided field offices with information, materials, and speaker support to facilitate a specific request or need. It relied on dynamic and direct communication between the DECA coordinator and executives, security directors, and personnel in U.S. corporations. In addition, the program periodically published a foreign intelligence threat information journal titled DECA Notes. Both classified and unclassified versions of DECA Notes and DECA briefings were given to U.S. corporations throughout the United States.
Source[]
- Executive Office of the President, "Annual Report to Congress on Foreign Economic Collection and Industrial Espionage" (July 1995) (full-text).