FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
LinkedOut. Senior editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “Transparency Toolkit called IC Watch a special program designed to ‘watch the watchers.’ If you work in the defense industry and intelligence community you’ve always know you’re a potential target for nefarious actors. But ever since the record leaks by Edward Snowden, being a watcher is perhaps more unpopular than ever. Where did the Transparency Toolkit find that treasure trove of resume information? LinkedIn.”
USIS settles. Senior editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “USIS, once the largest contractor conducting security clearance background investigations, and its parent firm Altegrity, have settled with the federal government, according to a recent court filing. . . . The settlement would force both the Federal Government and Altegrity to drop its claims against the other. The government is suing for damages it alleges due to the falsification of investigations, and USIS claimed it was owed approximately $44 million in costs with closing up its investigation contracts.”
Enough with the executive orders. Contributor Charles Simmins reports, “Enough is enough. That is the message to the Obama administration from four contracting trade associations in a letter sent Aug. 11. The letter asked the administration to hold off on issuing any new regulations regarding federal contracting. The presidents of the National Defense Industrial Association, the Aerospace Industries Association, the Professional Services Council and the IT Alliance for Public Sector have asked the White House to stop any further executive actions with respect to federal government contractors . . . . The issue at the heart of the matter is the cost of compliance, driving up the cost of doing business with the government.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
ISIS controls Sirte, Libya. Vice News’ Rebecca Murray reports, “Islamic State militants ferociously put down a civilian uprising in the Libyan city of Sirte this week, further tightening the group’s grip over the terrorized local population, and cementing control of key roads that lead to the desert country’s central oil fields and beyond. . . . On Thursday, IS fighters unleashed sophisticated and deadly firepower against the civilian-led insurgency, killing at least 40 people and wounding dozens more. Reports of beheadings have surfaced on Libyan social media, and people posted images of bodies strung-up on posts as IS preached loyalty to their self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, from the now-captured mosque at Friday prayers.”
War of the Taiwan Strait. The Diplomat’s Alex Littlefield and Adam Lowther report, “For the United States and its allies and partners in Asia, China’s aggressive efforts to assert questionable claims in the South and East China Sea, enforce a disputed Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), build the rocket/missile and naval capabilities needed to invade Taiwan, and build a substantial ballistic missile capability all work to create a situation where conflict between the U.S. and the PRC could occur and rapidly escalate. Given that American political and military leaders have a poor understanding of Chinese ambitions and particularly their opaque nuclear thinking, there is ample reason to be concerned that a future conflict could escalate to a limited nuclear conflict. Thus, it is worth taking a look at the PRC with an eye toward offering insight into Chinese motivation and thinking when it comes to how a possible crisis over Taiwan could escalate to the use of nuclear weapons.”
Fighting corruption. Christian Science Monitor contributor Eva Fedderly reports, “[Sarah] Chayes has become a key player in the attempt to bring about a sea change in US foreign policy by showing how what some see as an innocuous crime – corruption – is actually a serious threat to international security. She has seen it at work not only in Afghanistan but in other places with violent insurgencies, such as Syria, Nigeria, and Iraq. Chayes has influenced a paradigm shift in US foreign policy, Nathaniel Heller, cofounder of Global Integrity, an independent, nonprofit organization tracking governance and corruption trends around the world, told the Monitor. ‘She singlehandedly got a crucial dialogue going at the highest levels of government on corruption…. She opened up a space in politics for dialogue and debate regarding corruption as a serious threat to international security.’”
CONTRACT WATCH
Lockheed’s Multi-Object Kill Vehicle. DoD Buzz’s Brendan McGarry reports, “Lockheed Martin Corp., the world’s largest defense contractor, plans to design a missile defense component that can take out multiple warheads. The Bethesda, Maryland-based company on Thursday said it will design a multi-object kill vehicle for the Pentagon’s ground-based missile defense system under a $10 million contract from the Missile Defense Agency. ‘We will devise and explore the most effective solutions for destroying more than one warhead with a single interceptor, an important step in changing the cost curve for missile defense engagement,’ Doug Graham, vice president of missile systems and advanced programs at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, said . . . .”
Call for night vision. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “U.S. Army night vision experts are reaching out to industry to find companies able to manufacture as many as 10,000 devices that help drivers operate wheeled and tracked combat vehicles safely in darkness, in battlefield smoke, or in bad weather. Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Fort Belvoir, Va., issued a source-sought notice last week (W909MY-15-R-C022) looking for electro-optics companies able to manufacture Driver’s Vision Enhancer-Family of Systems (DVE-FOS) devices. The notice is looking for companies capable of providing full-rate production engineering services for DVE-FOS devices.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
Open source distortions. Nextgov’s Aliya Sternstein reports, “Director of National Intelligence James Clapper depends on open source information in addition to classified material, to provide American decision-makers with objective information. There is a concern that social media campaigns orchestrated by overseas powers could distort open-source intelligence gathering . . . . Already, adversaries have tried to distort online perceptions, [ODNI Science and Technology Director David Honey] acknowledged, providing the example of the social media swirl around the July 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.” See also, “The NSA is asking your favorite apps how to spy on you better,” “Hackers cash in with insider trading,” and “Hackers get Wall Street tip-offs, spy on UVA employees, and harass librarians.”
Agroterrorism cometh. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “Agroterrorism poses a serious risk to the people and the economy of the target country, yet the agriculture and food sectors of most countries are unprotected. This is the case in the United States, leading Tommy Thompson, then secretary of Health and Human Services, to say in 2004 that, ‘For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply, because it is so easy to do.’ A recent study by Stanford University researchers concluded that terrorists could poison hundreds of thousands of school children by putting botulism into a tanker of milk for schools. Some deadly plant germs could be sprayed over crops.”
Laser drones revisited. Breaking Defense’s Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. reports, “Three years after the Missile Defense Agency mothballed its massive Airborne Laser, MDA is planning to reboot the concept for a new era. The old ABL was Boeing 747 with a human crew and tanks of toxic chemicals to generate power. The new idea a high-altitude, long-endurance drone armed with a more compact electrically powered laser. But the technical and tactical challenge remains the same: building a laser-armed aircraft that can shoot down ballistic missiles at their most vulnerable, just after launch, without having to fly so close it gets shot down itself.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
She’s a witch! “Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is not buying into the controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. ‘What this has turned into is just a good, old-fashioned political witch hunt,’ the Missouri senator said . . . Clinton, the front runner in the Democratic presidential primary, ‘was not the first secretary of state to use personal email, but she’s the only one that has turned over tens upon thousands of her emails and asked them to become public,’ McCaskill said. ‘Now she’s turned over her server.’”
Flake decides. “U.S. Senator Jeff Flake announced his opposition on Saturday to the nuclear deal with Iran despite White House lobbying to try to convince the Arizona Republican to break from others in his party and back the accord when U.S. lawmakers vote on it. The agreement that Iran reached with the United States and other world powers on July 14 ‘does contain benefits in terms of limiting Iran’s ability to produce sufficient fissile material for a nuclear weapon for a period of time, particularly at its known nuclear facilities,’ Flake said in a statement.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“Five strategies for a more productive workday.” Fast Company contributor Akash Karia advises, “Making the most of each workday takes a conscious effort starting the moment you wake up. But working more purposefully is about sticking to the agenda that you set for yourself, taking useful notes, and tackling your goals head on.”
“Why Humans Need To Ban Artificially Intelligent Weapons.” The Atlantic contributors Zach Musgrave and Bryan W. Roberts argue, “We should ban AI weapons not because they are all immoral. We should ban them because humans will transform AI weapons into hideous blood-thirsty monsters using mods and hacks easily found online.”
“Should the United States Negotiate with Terrorists?” Lawfare contributor Clint Watts argues, “The United States has successfully decapitated terrorist groups, but the spread of jihadi militancy more broadly continues amongst the wide-ranging security vacuums left in the wake of the Arab Spring. Ultimately, negotiation and amnesty programs with extremist groups must enter the U.S. counterterrorism repertoire if reluctance to military deployment continues.”
