100 Security Changes in Crackdown on Espionage : Reagan Revises Defenses Against Spies

President Reagan is secretly implementing a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s defenses against foreign spies that calls for more than 100 security changes from the doors of defense plants to the signals of communications satellites in space, White House and congressional officials said.

The changes will affect people as well as hardware. The 4.2 million Americans with access to secret data will face tougher and more frequent background investigations. New restrictions may be placed on the ability of Soviet Bloc diplomats to buy computers and telecommunications equipment on the open market in this country.

The changes are the product of studies begun by Reagan’s National Security Council staff in 1981 and consultations throughout the government and Congress.

Record 13 Arrests

But a record 13 spy arrests in 1985, beginning with the Walker family spy ring in the Navy, galvanized Reagan and Congress into acting on those studies now, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Most of the changes are described in a 50-page secret report sent earlier this month to the House and Senate intelligence committees.

The White House official said the report outlines 40 new proposals and improvements or increases in more than 60 other areas. Some have been implemented and others soon will be. A few require legislation.

Principal Moves Told

The White House official said that among the principal moves outlined in the report or under consideration in the Administration were:

--The report promises an executive order from Reagan next year establishing the first government-wide minimum standards for background investigations of federal and contractor employees before they are cleared to see classified information.

The new order will provide more thorough investigation before “secret” clearances are granted and will force agencies to reinvestigate cleared employees periodically.

--The Defense Department is directed to implement proposals to station Defense Investigative Service agents permanently inside large defense plants and to provide monetary or administrative penalties for contractors with security lapses and bonuses for those with tight programs.

Additional Spending Urged

--The report calls for additional spending, some of it already approved by Congress, to develop methods for encoding government and business telephone calls over domestic communications satellites, which can be monitored by Soviet installations in the United States and Cuba.

--Additional research is promised on technical ways to safeguard secrets stored in computers, and computer experts are targeted for more stringent security inquiries.

--Reagan will again offer legislation to provide the death penalty for espionage and seek a law to provide special secrecy for technical information with space applications, similar to that now accorded to nuclear information.

Moves already implemented include the expulsion this fall of 80 Soviet spies. Officials are now increasing efforts to police the granting of visas so the expelled officials will not all be replaced by other veteran spies.

A counterintelligence czar was sought by many conservatives before Reagan took office, and opposed by liberals who said it smacked of “Big Brother” government. The White House official said Congress and the agencies involved now think that proposal would unduly subordinate each agency’s expertise.