FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Clearance search. Contributor Sean Bigley explains, “Nothing – especially something like a security clearance – ever truly disappears. . . . I had the client submit a Privacy Act request directly to the former employing agency and, lo and behold, after the requisite bureaucratic delay we actually received a useful return. The client had, in fact, held a clearance, but long before the days of ‘reciprocity’ and information sharing that supposedly render such situations problems of a bygone era.”
Financial matters. Also from in-house counsel Sean Bigley, “My clients are often surprised to learn that the government really does just pull their credit report. I always counsel clients to proactively pull a copy of their credit report before an investigation and make sure any potential issues are promptly cleaned up. You’ll still have to report any financial problems that meet the reporting requirements on the SF-86 form, but it looks much better (and significantly increases your chances of avoiding a clearance denial), if you’ve already cleaned your financial house.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
Taliban take Helmand’s Now Zad. The Long War Journal’s Bill Roggio reports, “The Afghan Taliban raised its white banner over military outposts after overrunning the district of Now Zad in Helmand province two weeks ago. Afghan officials have confirmed that Now Zad is under Taliban control. . . . The Taliban also seized Humvees that were supplied to Afghan security forces, large trucks, and other supplies. It is unclear if all of the vehicles are operational, but the Taliban used one Humvee to attack the hilltop base.” See also, “Haqqani Network uses Pakistani military facilities to attack Afghanistan.”
Korea tension. Defense News reports, “South Korea ramped up border security Tuesday as military tensions flared following landmine blasts blamed on North Korea, and the presidential office in Seoul demanded a formal apology. South Korea says North Korean soldiers sneaked across the border and laid the mines, three of which were tripped by members of a South Korean border patrol on Tuesday last week. One soldier underwent a double leg amputation while another had one leg removed.”
Ranger women? Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe reports, “History is in the balance: For the first time, two female students advanced to the third and final phase of the famously exhausting course in the swamps of Florida, and are within reach of graduating. If they pass, they will become the first Ranger-qualified women in the history of the U.S. military and celebrated at an Aug. 21 graduation ceremony . . . . If they graduate, the Army must confront a separate, but related decision: Whether to allow women to try out for the elite 75th Ranger Regiment.”
CONTRACT WATCH
Executive order overload. Government Executive’s Charles S. Clark reports, “On the heels of a news leak about a pending presidential directive requiring federal contractors to offer paid sick leave, four major contractor groups on Tuesday wrote to top White House officials asking them to ease up on executive orders ‘for the foreseeable future.’ With the White House issuing more contractor-specific orders, the ‘rapid growth in compliance requirements is becoming untenable’ . . . .” See also, “Contractors ask White House to stop regulations.”
Contractor data breach rules. Nextgov’s Aliya Sternstein reports, “Agencies could have a template for data breach contract clauses as early as this fall, according to a detailed draft policy. Until now, federal standards, White House polices and governmentwide information security laws have offered departments and contractors a jumble of information security regulations from which to choose. The new proposed provisions for ‘Improving Cybersecurity Protections in Federal Acquisitions’ are meant to ensure government data is kept safe no matter whether it’s inside an agency-owned system or a corporate vendor’s system.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
ISIS Hacking Division. Venture Beat’s Fletcher Babb and Harrison Weber report, “A Twitter account claiming to be the ‘IS Hacking Division’ has published what appears to be an extensive directory of government emails, passwords, credit cards, phone numbers, and addresses spanning U.S. military departments and divisions, the FBI, U.S. embassies, the Library of Congress, U.S. city officials, the British Embassy, the FTC, and NASA, as well as possible personnel at Wells Fargo. VentureBeat is able to confirm that the U.S. Department of Defense is ‘looking into’ this alleged hack. We’ve also independently verified that at least several of the items included on that list contained accurate information, but that several of the people were not aware that the leak had occurred.”
Missile revolution. Breaking Defense’s Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. reports, “After 14 years of guerrilla war, the Army has underinvested in defeating high-end threats, the service’s acquisition chief said today. That puts a premium on modernizing missile defense despite tight budgets, from upgrades to the venerable Patriot to new offensive missiles to revolutionary technologies like lasers. . . . The best missile defense is often a good offense, taking out the missiles before they launch — or crippling the radars that guide them and the networks that command them.”
Google Earth air strikes. Defense One’s Tim Fernholz reports, “Google—or the many products and services now under the holding company Alphabet—provides the connecting tissue between U.S. forces and Kurdish militias fighting against ISIS in war-torn Syria. . . . fighters are using Android-powered Samsung tablets and Google Earth to track their battle lines and coordinate close air support with the U.S. military . . . .”
China’s hack attacks are personal. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “The vulnerability of American government organizations to hacking by foreign government-baked hackers was in evidence again when, a few days ago, it was revealed that Russian government hackers, using spear-phishing attacks, breached Joint Staff e-mail system. . . . U.S. government sources say that a separate set of attacks by Chinese government hackers targeted the personal e-mails of ‘all top national security and trade officials.’”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Learn to love. “President Obama is insisting that American attitudes toward the Iran nuclear agreement will shift in favor of the deal over time, once people can see how it’s implemented. . . . Obama defended the agreement and said having international inspectors on the ground in Iran would eventually win over a skeptical U.S. public.”
Trump card. “Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday said he’s no more liberal than former President Ronald Reagan. ‘Ronald Reagan was a Democrat and he was sort of liberal . . . . He was a Democrat with a liberal bent and he became a great conservative. … He had something very special. … If you think of it, he was a little bit less conservative than people think, but he had a great heart and I have a great heart.’”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“Five habits of effective introverted leaders.” Fast Company contributor Trina Isakson offers, “Leadership as a concept or something to aspire to can be alienating to many. If you don’t have a job that involves supervising others or have natural skill as a charismatic public speaker, it can be hard to see yourself as a leader. But by practicing many of the qualities of leadership that align with being a quiet changemaker, leadership is accessible for the introverts among our movements, too.”
“What Iran’s hostile reaction to the Parchin issue means for the nuclear deal.” Washington Post contributor David Albright argues, “The United States and Congress should clearly and publicly confirm, and Congress should support with legislation, that if Iran does not address the IAEA’s concerns about the past military dimensions of its nuclear programs, U.S. sanctions will not be lifted. To do otherwise is to make a mockery of the nuclear deal.”
“The Legal Problems with Cyber War Are Much Bigger Than You Think.” Defense One contributor Benjamin Brake explains, “Legal precedents born out of traditional conflicts and proxy wars suggest the evidentiary burden to attribute the actions of non-state hackers to a state will be substantial. And experiences from recent incidents offer a discouraging preview.”
