Cyber-vetting clearance processes. “Some people will characterize cyber vetting as overly intrusive. But all Personnel Security Investigations (PSIs) are inherently intrusive, and no one is subject to a PSI unless they apply for a clearance and sign the Authorization for Release of Information form. If you want to apply for a security clearance then you’ll have to surrender some of your right to informational privacy, if such a right even exists . . . .”
Clearance questions. “Financial issues are by far the number one cause of clearance denial and revocation. And for good reason – when you look back into the annals of spy history, financial reward is a common factor in sell-outs. If you have delinquent debt – and have made absolutely no effort to repay your debt – your chances of obtaining a security clearance are small.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
“U.S. spy agencies zeroed in on Mullah Akhtar Mansour while he was visiting his family in Iran, laying a trap for when the Taliban leader crossed the border back into Pakistan. While U.S. surveillance drones don’t operate in the area, intercepted communications and other types of intelligence allowed the spy agencies to track their target as he crossed the frontier on Saturday, got into a white Toyota Corolla and made his way by road through Pakistan’s Balochistan province . . . . Then, the U.S. military took over.” (The Australian)
“A U.S.-backed Syrian coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters has launched an offensive to begin forcing Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters from the de-facto capital city of their self-proclaimed Islamic ‘caliphate’ — or at least to begin doing so. . . . ISIS has controled Raqqa in northern Syria since sweeping across vast swathes of that country and neighboring Iraq in 2014. It is believed to operate most of its administration and control and command from the city.” (CBS News)
“More than half a million people in rebel-held suburbs to the east of Damascus are facing imminent starvation, after the Syrian army broke through rebel lines last week, separating people from the agricultural land that was the area’s breadbasket. The people of East Ghouta have survived a three-year siege thanks to produce grown in fields near their homes — and now that they have lost that territory they face a grim fate, similar to other besieged, and starving, parts of Syria.” (Vice News)
“The Afghan Taliban confirmed on Wednesday that their leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week and that they have appointed a successor – a scholar known for extremist views who is unlikely to back a peace process with Kabul. The announcement came as a suicide bomber struck a minibus carrying court employees in the Afghan capital, killing at least 11 people, an official said. The Taliban promptly claimed responsibility for the attack.” (AP)
CONTRACT WATCH
“The General Services Administration rolled out a new category management procurement on May 16, awarding 109 human capital contracts to vendors. The Human Capital and Training Solutions, or HCaTS, contracts are for human capital strategy, training and development and performance improvement services. The contracts have a ceiling of $11.5 billion and were awarded in partnership with the Office of Personnel Management.” (Federal Times)
“U.S. military researchers are asking cyber security experts at Praxis Engineering Technologies Inc. in Annapolis Junction, Md., to find new ways of providing cyber security for embedded computing and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Officials of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, have announced a $12.6 million contract to Praxis for the Leveraging the Analog Domain for Security (LADS) program.” (Military & Aerospace Electronics)
