FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. Insider threat training. Contributor Jeffrey Bennett explains, “The insider threat is one of the toughest to tackle. Employees should be trained to recognize and report authorized employee access to information while conducting unauthorized activities. Employees should be trained on privileges and limitations as well as how to operate within their allowances. With this training in hand, the cleared defense contractor could do a better job with due diligence and the continuous evaluation process.”

2. Insider threat explained. Also from Jeffrey Bennett, “While contemplating the insider threat, the analyst should be aware that anyone can exploit any level of permissions to steal, damage, or manipulate whatever they can affect. This includes the full and part time employees, vendors, consultants or others with the ability to touch or impact assets. The insider could have full range of motion throughout the organization or limited by technical or physical restrictions.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. AFRICOM Ebola update. Defense Media Activity’s Nick Simeone reports, “With the number of new Ebola cases declining or holding steady in Liberia, the top U.S. military commander for Africa said today that thousands of U.S. troops deployed to West Africa to help stop the spread of the deadly disease could soon shift their focus to other countries if needed or begin to come home. Army Gen. David M. Rodriguez, who commands U.S. Africa Command, said . . . Operation United Assistance is prepared to shift its focus to other countries, in particular Guinea and Sierra Leone, which have not seen a similar a drop in Ebola cases.”

2. Taliban squeeze. Reuters’ Jibran Ahmed reports from Peshawar, “Pakistani Taliban militants holed up in Afghanistan are being squeezed by a series of U.S. drone strikes and a revolt against them, a trend that could disrupt the insurgents’ capability to strike inside Pakistan. . . . the insurgency has been weakened by a spate strikes by U.S. drones and a rebellion by tribesmen in Afghanistan’s Kunar province. The Pakistani and Afghan Taliban are allied and share the goal of toppling their respective governments and setting up a strict Islamist state across the region.”

3. Border security, Pakistan style. AP’s Mirwais Khan and Lynne O’Donnell report from Kandahar, “In the dusty badlands along its disputed border with Afghanistan, Pakistan is carving out a massive trench to keep out separatists, smugglers and militants in an attempt to bring order to a lawless, tribal region. . . . And it is adding to simmering tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. allies which have long accused each other of turning a blind eye to insurgents. The trench runs along part of the 2,640-kilometer (2,640-mile) Durand Line . . . .”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. Friend and foe of defense spending. Ash Carter. NationalDefenseMagazine.Org’s Sandra I. Erwin reports, “Carter saw firsthand the impact of congressionally mandated sequester cuts on the military. He was an ardent critic of spending cuts that he characterized as dangerous and irresponsible. As Pentagon chief, Carter will be again on the front lines of that fight. But Carter also has been an unabashed critic of Pentagon overspending, and not a big fan of the ways of the military-industrial complex. . . .”

2. Navy soliciting for new sonar cables. MilitaryAerospace.Com Editor John Keller reports, “Naval Air Systems Command . . . released a solicitation last week (N00019-15-R-0001) for the AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS) Improved Sonar Cable for the MH-60 Romeo program [asking] companies . . . to bid a new cable job that improves on the existing cable’s drawbacks that include uncertain shelf life; cable miswraps on the reeling machine; cable jacket stretching or deformation that changes the cable’s reeling characteristics; and an inability of the ALFS cable position sensors to detect the cable’s white marks.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. First giant leap to Mars. AP’s Marcia Dunn reports, “NASA stood poised to usher in a new era of exploration Thursday with the premier launch of its new Orion spacecraft. . . . It’s the first attempt to send a spacecraft capable of carrying humans beyond a couple hundred miles of Earth since the Apollo moon program. The ultimate goal, in the decades ahead, is to use Orion to carry people to Mars and back. . . . Lockheed Martin Corp., which is handling the $370 million test flight for NASA, opted for the powerful Delta IV rocket this time around. Future Orion missions will rely on NASA’s still-in-development megarocket known as SLS, or Space Launch System. The first Orion-SLS combo launch is targeted for 2018.”

2. Sony hack update. Wired.Com’s Kim Zetter reports, “As so often happens with breach stories, the more time that passes the more we learn about the nature of the hack, the data that was stolen and, sometimes, even the identity of the culprits behind it. A week into the Sony hack, however, there is a lot of rampant speculation but few solid facts. Here’s a look at what we do and don’t know about what’s turning out to be the biggest hack of the year—and who knows, maybe of all time. . . .”

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Ed Ledford enjoys the most challenging, complex, and high stakes communications requirements. His portfolio includes everything from policy and strategy to poetry. A native of Asheville, N.C., and retired Army Aviator, Ed’s currently writing speeches in D.C. and working other writing projects from his office in Rockville, MD. He loves baseball and enjoys hiking, camping, and exploring anything. Follow Ed on Twitter @ECLedford.