FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Intelligent diversity. “For the first time, the Director of National Intelligence is releasing figures on the number of minorities working in Intelligence Community jobs. The unclassified report on minorities, women and disabled workers within the IC notes the struggle to attract and retain a diverse workforce. The IC lags behind both the federal government and the overall workforce. But DNI leadership hopes to change that.”
Designing your insider threat program. “The training program for those who have been given the role of deterring, detecting and mitigating the insider threat is important, is more than just a coupon-punch exercise. Furthermore, those within the insider threat program must heighten their own vigilance, cyber hygiene, and personal affairs, as they are very attractive targets to any hostile foreign intelligence officer.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
CIA’s Brennan to Senate Intel Committee: ISIS on their way. “CIA Director John Brennan will tell Congress on Thursday that Islamic State militants are training and attempting to deploy operatives for further attacks on the West and will rely more on guerrilla-style tactics to compensate for their territorial losses. . . . Brennan also noted the group’s call for followers to conduct so-called lone-wolf attacks in their home countries.” (ABC News) See also, “CIA Chief: IS Working to Send Operatives to the West.”
Expanding Freedom of Information. “Congress on Monday sent President Barack Obama legislation making it easier for Americans to obtain government records. The bipartisan bill would require federal agencies to consider release of government information under a ‘presumption of openness’ as opposed to a presumption the information is secret. Supporters of the shift said it would make it harder for agency officials to block release of government records. . . . Obama is expected to sign the measure, which aims to reduce the number of exemptions the government uses to withhold information from the public and news media. It also would create an online portal for individuals to submit a request under the 50-year-old Freedom of Information Act.” (AP) See also, “Culture of Secrecy” and “House to Vote on Curbing NSA Surveillance in Wake of Orlando.”
Summer Reading: Kaplan’s Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War. “Fred Kaplan’s new book, Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War, is the best available history of the U.S. government’s secret use of both cyber spying, and efforts to use its computer prowess for more aggressive attacks. While the book does not tackle the systemic issues head-on, it provides a readable background and overview to help frame a public, policy and national security debate that can’t be elided forever – or even for very much longer.” (Lawfare)
(Un)confusing clearances. “If you work for the government, you need to understand the security clearance process. Even if your current position doesn’t require a security clearance (and it’s hard to find one that doesn’t require at least a public trust), there’s a good chance you’ll come across clearance terminology in your workplace. Here are five things to keep in mind . . . .” (Defense One)
CONTRACT WATCH
ICARUS: DARPA’s disappearing drone trick. “U.S. military researchers have chosen two companies to develop small unpowered and unmanned aircraft to air-drop small packages for forward-deployed forces. After delivery, the unmanned aircraft will vanish without any detectable trace. Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., have chosen the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in Palo Alto, Calif., and DZYNE Technologies Inc. in Fairfax, Va., for the Inbound, Controlled, Air-Releasable, Unrecoverable Systems (ICARUS) program.” (Military & Aerospace Electronics)
Lockheed to Canada: buy the F-35, or else. “As Canada considers a purchase of Super Hornet fighter jets from Boeing, Lockheed Martin is threatening to cut Canadian companies out of work on the F-35. But defense analysts and industry sources say such punitive measures could take years to follow through with and might ultimately backfire against the U.S. defense giant. Lockheed Martin went on a public-relations push last week and on the weekend, telling Canadian media outlets a decision not to buy the F-35 would put in jeopardy hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts that could be awarded to Canadian firms for work on the aircraft.” (Defense News)
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
The FBI’s overwhelmed with radicals and lone-wolves. “It’s not that the FBI didn’t recognize Mateen as a threat; it’s that there are too many people like Mateen and Tsarnaev and Hasan across America today for the FBI to track them all—leaving the vast majority of people who the FBI suspects might harbor terrorist aspirations to go about their daily lives without any regular government surveillance. Experts say it’s a big problem—one that’s been brewing for more than two years as the Bureau has struggled to keep up with a wave of aspirational homegrown jihadists, who act faster and leave fewer clues than would-be terrorists a decade or two ago.” (Politico) See also, “Allegiance to the leader of ISIS and vowing more attacks.”
SecDef announces new authorities in Afghanistan. “U.S. forces in Afghanistan now will be able to boost support for Afghan conventional forces with more firepower and by accompanying and advising them on the ground and in the air . . . . The new authority means U.S. troops can more proactively support Afghan conventional forces in two critical ways: with more American firepower, especially through close air support, and by accompanying and advising Afghan conventional forces on the ground and in the air . . . .” (Defense Media Activity)
Leadership and smarts: the Army’s secret weapon. “First, the U.S. Army’s historical role in cross-domain dominance will continue to be relevant even as new technologies make warfare more lethal and complicated. Second, for the Army to adapt to this future the toughest barriers to overcome will be legal, bureaucratic, and intellectual rather than technological. . . . the current Army needs to ensure that it maintains a strong educational and institutional base focused on creating a force that can learn, adapt, and anticipate.” (War on the Rocks)
