FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Cleared finances. Contributor and barrister Sean Bigley advises, “What many security clearance holders and applicants fail to realize is that it’s not the bankruptcy itself that is an issue. Rather, the government views bankruptcy as a symptom of underlying problems that must be addressed. If bankruptcy is the symptom, the more serious question then becomes the nature of those underlying problems . . . .”
2. Cyber shortage. Contributor Chandler Harris reports, “Despite recognizing the need to recruit, retain and properly train cybersecurity experts for many years, the federal government still is facing a critical shortage of cybersecurity talent. The primary reason, according to a new report by Booz Allen Hamilton, is the federal government’s lack of a coordinated strategy to help agencies attract and recruit the cybersecurity talent needed to defend the nation’s critical infrastructure.”Read the Booz Allen report.
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Saigon captured – 40 years ago today. BBC reports, “On 30 April 1975 the city – which was then called Saigon and was the capital of South Vietnam – was captured by communist troops from the North. The North’s victory ended the war in which at least three million Vietnamese died, as well as 58,000 US soldiers. The re-unification process was completed the next year. Regiments of soldiers in dress uniform and elaborate floats are slowly making their way through city streets.” See also, “40 years later, the fall of Saigon remains an endless abyss of sorrow for some,” “Vietnam War 40 years on, enemies now friends but still pain,” “Nixon’s Retrospective on the Vietnam War,” and “Vietnam, ruled by communists for 40 years, is now the No. 1 fan of capitalism on the planet.”
2. Threat of African terrorism. The Long War Journal shares Thomas Joscelyn’s testimony to the House Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence: “Complex tribal, ethnic, and religious dynamics mean that any summary of the situation in Africa will be necessarily incomplete. However, I will attempt to distill some themes that are important for understanding the rising jihadist threat in the continent. While there are important differences between ISIS and al Qaeda, and the two are at odds with one another in a variety of ways, they are both inherently anti-American and anti-Western. Thus, they constitute a threat to our interests everywhere their jihadists fight.”
3. Water fight. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “At least1.6 billion people worldwide face water scarcity because their countries lack the necessary infrastructure to move water from rivers and aquifers. In the Middle East, this lack of water infrastructure combines with the effects of global warming — including prolonged in droughts — to make the entire region politically and economically unstable.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. BAE partners with iSIGHT. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “Cyber security experts at BAE Systems are planning to increase their company’s capabilities in cyber threat intelligence in the U.S. with their partnership with iSIGHT Partners Inc. in Dallas. Officials of the BAE Systems Applied Intelligence segment in Boston announced an agreement with iSIGHT to augment BAE Systems threat intelligence client offering. iSIGHT has expertise in monitoring the global threat ecosystem and providing high-fidelity cyber security intelligence.”
2. FBI cyber-expert search. Nextgov’s Frank Konkel reports, “Finding the right workforce talent is never easy, but it’s a particularly challenging feat for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which frequently requires subject matter experts with high clearances and diverse skill sets. To fill its growing list of unique openings — especially in the cybersecurity arena – the FBI plans to contract out professional, management and support services for up to $100 million . . . .”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Bulk surveillance: a conclusion, perhaps. Washington Post’s Greg Sargent reports, “. . . much of the National Security Agency bulk metadata collection that stirred so much controversy in the wake of the Edwards Snowden revelations might — just might — be about to come to an end. While civil libertarians still worry about various aspects of the program continuing, this would be no small achievement. . . . a bipartisan group of Senators — led by Republican Mike Lee and Democrat Patrick Leahy — introduced the U.S.A. Freedom Act, a measure that would put an end to the NSA’s bulk collection under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.”
2. Intelligence Committee acts. Huffington Post’s Ali Watkins reports, “Five months after the Senate Intelligence Committee released its gruesome report on the CIA’s post-9/11 torture program, someone is finally paying steep professional consequences. Except it’s not the former torturers. Or their superiors. Or even the CIA officials who improperly searched the computers that Senate investigators used to construct the study. It’s the person who helped expose them.”
3. Shaping cybersecurity R&D. FierceGovernmentIT’s Stephanie Kanowitz reports, “The National Science Foundation wants feedback on how the government should focus cybersecurity research and development in order to guide and coordinate federally funded studies. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 requires federal agencies to come up with a cybersecurity research and development strategic plan, according to the RFI published April 27 in the Federal Register. The Cyber Security and Information Assurance Research and Development Senior Steering Group is seeking the information on behalf of the agencies involved.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Cruz missile. “Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of three Republicans already in the presidential race, is warning that likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is lining up the ‘media elite’ and ‘Hollywood machine’ to raise enough money to crush the eventual GOP nominee. In a fundraising letter to supporters, he pledged to ‘keep pace’ with Clinton’s bid to raise $2.5 billion, but noted that she has richer allies.”
2. See Bernie run. “Bernie Sanders said on Wednesday that he will run for president, giving Hillary Clinton her first official challenger to the left in the Democratic primary. The Vermont independent will officially announce his candidacy in a low key on Thursday . . . . Sanders, who mulled over a presidential bid for months, has said repeatedly that he would run only if he were convinced he could run a credible campaign — a tall order for a very liberal senator without big donors or an established campaign infrastructure.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Vietnam: The Retrospect: What Are the Lessons of Vietnam?” Foreign Affairs contributors David Fromkin and James Chace argued (in 1985), “Today the desire to forget Vietnam seems to have given way to a desire to learn about it—specifically to learn how to avoid getting involved in such disastrous misadventures again.”
2. “NSA data collection program must end.” Aljazeera America contributor Faiza Patel argues, “The United States faces a range of threats, and intelligence and law enforcement agencies should have the tools to face them. But such tools should be effective and constitutional. The phone records program being pushed by the Senate leadership is neither. Instead of wasting the limited time left before Congress goes on recess, McConnell and Burr should be working to fix the Patriot Act, not blindly endorse it.”
3. “The Pentagon is buying the wrong ship, and it’s costing taxpayers billions.” Reuters contributor David Axe argues, “If the Navy bought 10 fewer Littoral ships and acquired 10 new patrol boats for $70 million apiece instead, it would represent a net savings of more than $3 billion in ship construction costs while also boosting national security.”
THE FUNNIES
2. Cheshire Hillary.
