Vladimir Putin reminds NATO of its raison d’être, Homeland Security’s powerful acquisition tool gains momentum, and Google’s Megan Smith takes center stage as Obama’s new Tech Chief – all in today’s defense headlines.
FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Stalker websites & information peddling. Contributor Sean Bigley explains, “For security clearance holders . . . the threat is particularly real. It doesn’t take much thought to see how a criminal organization or foreign intelligence agency can track down a target’s home address and family members with ease. Such information is valuably exploitable when paired with government publications like agency telephone directories or organizational charts. But why pay human sources the big bucks for this information when you have Spokeo to do the work for $0.95?”
2. Blackmail and clearances. Also from Sean Bigley, “The word ‘blackmail’ conjures up cloak and dagger images better suited for Hollywood than the unexciting reality of most classified work. For security clearance holders, however, the threat of blackmail by foreign intelligence agencies or criminal organizations is real – and can arise in ways you might not expect. Here are some of the most common problem areas and what, if anything, you can do about them.
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Lebanon—ISIS’ next target. AP’s Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam report from Qaa, Lebanon, “Every day around sunset, dozens of residents of this small Lebanese Christian village on the border carry their automatic rifles and deploy on surrounding hills, taking up positions and laying ambushes in case Muslim extremists from neighboring Syria attack. . . . Now, for the first time since the Lebanese civil war ended in 1990, Lebanese Christians are rearming and setting up self-defense units to protect themselves, an indication of the growing anxiety over the expanding reach of radical Islamic groups.”
2. National unity in Afghanistan. Khaama.Com reports, “Afghan presidential candidates Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai have vowed to end the crisis over disputed election and sign the bilateral security agreement with Washington and status of forces agreement with NATO. . . . NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, ‘I can confirm that we received a message from the two presidential candidates indicating that they will do all they can to reach a political agreement and if that materialises we would warmly welcome it.’” See also, “NATO Unable to Finalize Troop Numbers for Afghanistan.”
3. NATO revitalized—thanks to Putin. Christian Science Monitor’s Howard LaFranchi reports, “After a decade of NATO hand-wringing, deep thinks about the Atlantic Alliance’s purpose in a peaceful Europe, and experimenting with ‘out-of-area’ missions like Afghanistan, the organization that anchored the United States in postwar Europe once again seems confident about its 21st century existence. That restored sense of purpose—which just six months ago seemed too much to hope for at this week’s NATO summit in Wales—can be attributed to no Alliance leader or far-flung mission, transatlantic experts say, but to Vladimir Putin.”
4. Friendly fire. AP’s Robert Burnsreports, “Avoidable miscommunication between U.S. air and ground forces led to a ‘friendly fire’ incident in Afghanistan that killed five U.S. soldiers and one Afghan in June, according to a military investigation report. . . . The report released Thursday . . . cited a collective failure by soldiers, commanders and air crew members to execute the fundamentals of the mission. As a result, the five Americans and one Afghan were mistaken for the enemy and were attacked with two laser-guided bombs from a B-1 bomber.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. General Dynamics delivers—USS North Dakota. DoDBuzz.Com’s Kris Osborn reports, “The Navy officially accepted delivery of the USS North Dakota on Aug. 29, signaling the arrival of a new high-tech fast attack submarine equipped with improved missile tubes, computers, electronics and sonar technology. Christened in November, the USS North Dakota will be the first of eight Block III Virginia-class boats delivered to the Navy, submarines engineered with a series of technological upgrades and innovations compared to earlier Blocks I and II boats . . . . Blocks I and II, totaling 10 ships, have already been delivered to the Navy. All eight Block III boats are being built under a $14 billion Navy deal with General Dynamics’ Electric Boat from December of 2008.”
2. DHS’ EAGLE II is landing. FederalTimes.Com’s Christy O’Farrell reports, “DHS’ Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions II (EAGLE II) contract vehicle is starting to come to life nearly four years after the government released the request for proposals, and close to two years after the first awards. The contract, worth up to $22 billion in information technology purchases over seven years, has been delayed by bid protests but now is gathering momentum. As of late July, several DHS components have awarded task orders in all three functional categories worth $16.5 million in initial obligations under EAGLE II.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Truly secure computing. FierceGovernmentIT.Com’s Dibya Sakar reports, “Los Alamos National Laboratory has signed a licensing agreement—its largest IT contract ever, it says—to help commercialize advanced data encryption technology that can be used by individuals and organizations alike. The lab said the technology, which has been developed and rigorously tested for 20 years now, creates cryptographic keys ‘with lightning speed’ by using the quantum properties of light particles, or photons, to generate random numbers to securely send data. A hacker would be unable to predict the outcome of the random-number generator due to the randomness of the photons . . . .”
2. Women in Tech—Obama’s new Chief Technology Officer. Wired.Com’s Issie Lapowsky reports, “The United States has appointed a new chief technology officer and, in turn, women across the country have gained a new role model as they attempt to break through the gender bias in the tech industry. On Thursday, the White House announced the appointment of Google veteran Megan Smith, who was most recently vice president of the company’s Google[X] ‘moonshot lab.’ In replacing the outgoing Todd Park, she becomes the United States’ first female CTO. It’s a fitting appointment. In addition to being a gifted programmer and technologist, Smith has been one of the country’s leading advocates in the movement to get more women into tech jobs.”
3. Hacking healthcare. VentureBeat.Com’s Mark Sullivan reports, “A hacker broke into one of the servers by the government’s healthcare exchange site . . . . The attack took place in July, and the hacker, who is currently unknown, managed to plant malware on one of the servers used to test code for the Healthcare.gov website. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the health insurance exchange website, is denying that any personal data was stolen in the attack. . . . The attack is worrying because those servers are loaded with health, financial, and demographic data of millions of Americans.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Hold on Syria. “House Republicans on Thursday appeared poised to hold off on a legislative plan to address the growing threat of Islamic militants in the Middle East, despite calls by some conservatives to pass a bill authorizing military action. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who ascended to the number-two leadership post in late July, told fellow GOP lawmakers in a memo that the House will continue ‘aggressive oversight work,’ such as hearings and briefings with White House officials and military experts, but there is no immediate plan to take up legislation giving President Obama the green light to bomb Syria, a stronghold for the terrorist group.”
2. Podesta’s coming back. “In late July, members of an informal group of people who’ve been meeting to plan outside assistance to a potential Hillary Clinton campaign gathered at the M Street offices of the Messina Group in Washington, D.C. At the table was one new and very notable attendee—John Podesta, counselor to President Barack Obama and a longtime Clinton confidant. In more than 20 interviews, Podesta was mentioned repeatedly as the person most likely to take on the role of campaign chairman—or chief executive officer or another top role, depending on how a potential campaign would be structured—if Clinton runs in 2016.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Plans to stop Russia show NATO and the West are in denial.” Reuters contributor Masha Gessen argues, “For more than six months now, since Russia annexed Crimea, Western politicians and analysts have been asking what can make Vladimir Putin stop or retreat. It’s the wrong question, and the policies that have flowed from the resulting debate have been misguided, because they are based on the fallacy that the West can do something to influence Putin’s actions.”
2. “US needs to get serious about defense spending.” Stars & Stripes features Charles Lane’s argument: “The truth is that military retiree health care and pensions are badly in need of reform, as President Barack Obama, to his credit, has noted in repeated budget proposals to Congress. But lawmakers of both parties resist, in deference to the lobbies — and to the detriment of our nation’s defense capabilities.”
3. “How to prevent Westerners from fighting for the Islamic State and al Qaeda.” Reuters contributor Aki Peritz argues, “A simple narrative motivates many to make the trip: President Assad/Hezbollah/Iran is oppressing Sunni Muslims, your home country does not care, and only we—the Islamic State or other jihadist group—will defend these innocents from the wolves. Will you join the cause? . . . There is only one way to defeat this narrative: craft a better counter-narrative.”
THE FUNNIES
2. Thanks, Vlad.
3. Hacking Picasso.
