FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Warning: social media snares. Contributor Sean Bigley warns, “Birthdays and high schools may seem like relatively harmless bits of information, but ODNI explains in two slickly produced videos the extent to which that information can be turned against you by a foreign intelligence service. . . . The implications are enormous for social engineering – the idea that spies can identify and cultivate promising intelligence leads by learning about their targets’ personal lives.”
Career interrupted. Contributor David Brown writes, “If you’ve been doing things the same way for years because when you first came into the job it’s the way they were always done, it’s time to rethink everything. Approach the problem mindfully and with a pioneer’s spirit reinvent your job.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
Carter’s future force. Defense Media Activity’s Jim Garamone reports, “Defense Secretary Ash Carter said his Force of the Future program is necessary to ensure the Defense Department continues to attract the best people America has to offer. . . . Carter emphasized his starting point is today’s force.”
Crushing ISIS. The New York Times’ Tim Arango reports, “[T]here is no consensus on a simple strategy to defeat the Islamic State. But there are some themes — like the need to take a decisive role in the Syrian conflict and to pushing a broader reformation of Islam — that a range of people who follow the group say must be part of a solution.” See also, “Obama says Syria settlement needed to eliminate Islamic State.”
Enemies of our enemies. The Wall Street Journal’s Nathan Hodge, William Horobin, and Philip Shishkin report, “France, Russia and the U.S. moved beyond talk of cooperation and into the far more difficult realm of action, as the ‘grand and single coalition’ French President François Hollande called for to combat Islamic State began coming into view. President Barack Obama said Wednesday that if Russia shifts its military strategy in Syria to focus on Islamic State, the U.S. would welcome cooperation with Moscow on an intensified military campaign.”
ISIS’ money machine. Washington Post’s Ana Swanson reports, “[T]he group’s methods of financing are very different from other prominent terrorist organizations, and much more difficult for the United States and other countries to shut down. Unlike many terrorist groups, which finance themselves mainly through wealthy donors, the Islamic State has used its control over a territory . . . .” See also, “Three Ways ISIS Gets Its Money.”
CONTRACT WATCH
Bids for bombers. Defense News’ Lara Seligman reports, “Lawmakers and analysts renewed calls Wednesday for the Pentagon to build significantly more next-generation bombers than currently planned, arguing that the Air Force needs a fleet of 200 advanced bombers to project power in a more dangerous world. In study released today by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Moeller made the case for the Pentagon to procure a modernized bomber force of 200 aircraft by 2045.”
Call for cyber-support. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “U.S. government cyber security experts are asking industry to participate in a potential $460 million program to provide a variety of cyber services, including knowledge management; cyber operations; cyber planning; all-source intelligence; cyber training and exercises; information technology and communications; integrated technology; and cyber security. Officials of the General Services Administration (GSA) in Washington are releasing a solicitation (GSC-QF0B-15-32959) on behalf of U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade, Md., for the U.S. Cyber Command Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery and Indefinite Quantity program.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
Chris Lynch: WH’s tech man in DoD. Defense One’s Patrick Tucker reports, “Lynch, previously served as a vice president for Daptiv (acquired by ChangePoint) and at Microsoft as development manager in charge of the architecture, engineering, and operation of a global customer relationship management application.”
Hacking ISIS. International Business Times’ David Gilbert reports, “Anonymous is seeking to involve as many people as possible in its ‘war on Islamic State’ as it publishes a series of guides to help people to identify and attack websites and social media accounts of ISIS online. . . . The guide itself first gives some tips for newbies, including learning some HTML and even some Python programming language, before starting out. . . .” See also, “Anonymous’s Hackers Targeting Islamic State Online.”
Java-less world. Wired’s Klint Finley writes, “Pages loaded nearly instantly, my laptop battery lasted longer, and I could browse the web with fewer distractions—all without the sense of guilt that comes with using an ad blocker. . . .”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Behave! “Three days after the Islamic State terrorist attacks in Paris, Americans were primed to hear their president express heartfelt anger, which he did in his press conference in Antalya, Turkey, at the end of the G-20 Conference. . . . But what really got him angry, as the transcript and videotape make clear, were reporters’ repeated questions about the minimal success of his strategy against the Islamic State and Republicans’ proposals for more active engagement in Syria and Iraq. As well as critics of his decision to allow 10,000 Syrians into the United States.”
Show stopper. “The fallout from the Paris terrorist attacks will begin to play out on the House floor Thursday as the chamber is set to approve a bill to block any refugees from Syria or Iraq from entering the country unless they pass a strict background check and receive government certification. . . . A sizable number of Democrats are likely to cross the aisle and vote for it, despite White House opposition, said lawmakers in both parties. Some rank-and-file Democrats are concerned about looking soft on national security even as French authorities continue to track down suspects from last week’s deadly attacks.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“NATO should invade ISIS-held territory.” Homeland Security News Wire contributor Nicholas Grossman argues, “Diplomacy is essential to a long-term solution to the Syrian civil war. But someone needs to take over ISIS’ territory, and local forces cannot do it alone. President Obama should reconsider his refusal to contribute ground forces.”
“Islamic State has become an existential threat to the West.” Reuters contributor John Lloyd argues, “Put together money, expertise and an Islamist-nihilist philosophy, and you have a weapon of huge destructive power, pointing at both the West and the East.”
“Military Intervention Is the Problem, Not the Solution.” Other Words contributor Peter Certo argues, “When your government answers every problem in the world with military force, war begets war. And eventually there’s nowhere left to hide from it.”
“ISIS Is Winning the ‘War of Ideas’.” The Atlantic contributor Simon Cottee argues, “ISIS’s success at attracting recruits, from both within and outside the region in which it is based, is due both to the emotional potency of its ideas and to the skill with which it exploits social media to disseminate its message and reach out to potential supporters and recruits.” See also, “In Islamic State’s global reach, new risks for jihadists – and the West.”
“Baseless Calls to Expand Surveillance Fit Familiar, Cynical Pattern.” Electronic Frontier Foundation contributor Cindy Cohn argues, “[W]hether the focus is on spending our money on things that actually work or on protecting our Constitutional rights and our ability to be ‘secure’ in our papers in the digital age, it’s long past time we shifted focus from the expensive ‘collect it all’ strategies to more focused surveillance.” See also, “Mass Surveillance Isn’t the Answer to Fighting Terrorism,” “Attacks revive debate on encryption, surveillance” and “Restricting encryption would not have prevented the Paris attack.”
“The Limits of The Panopticon.” Lawfare contributor Nicholas Weaver argues, “The electronic panopticon is attractive because it is often effective and inexpensive by design. But Paris presents an opportunity to acknowledge its limitations and recognize that making it ‘stronger’ will not actually make it more effective.”
