By Lindy Kyzer
March 13 2014
Security clearance reform is a hot topic within government and on Capitol Hill. In the wake of Edward Snowden and Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis, many are asking how we can better protect sensitive information. Will current reform efforts affect your security-cleared hiring? Absolutely. Here are five ways.
1. Security clearance processing delays.
In January the Defense Security Service announced they were working through a backlog of eQIPs that had reached over 13,000. Periodic reinvestigations have also been suspended in some cases, due to lack of resources.
The reform push over the past decade focused on improving processing times; today’s push is focused on producing more quality investigations. Expect continued emphasis on thorough reviews versus timely adjudications.
2. Continuous monitoring of your cleared employees and applicants.
The biggest focus of security clearance reform is on Continuous Monitoring and Evaluation (CME). The Automated Continuing Evaluation System (ACES) is a CME program that has been around for more than ten years, and which may provide the basis for future monitoring programs. Information ranging from boat registration to professional licenses will be gathered (think of it as a periodic reinvestigation that never stops).
Continuous monitoring may make it more difficult to retain some employees, as well as increase the recruiting challenge of attracting cybersecurity professionals to government work. You can emphasize that security cleared applicants already consent to a certain level of monitoring when they sign an authorization for the release of information with their security clearance applications. And if adverse information is found through CME, cleared professionals will still have the opportunity to respond before action is taken.
3. A more comprehensive candidate screening process.
If you aren’t already taking advantage of personality testing as a part of your employment screening process, now may be the time to start. Security clearance reform efforts emphasize the need to know more about cleared employees both on and off the job. Congress and government officials are still debating whether or not to include medical and mental health records as a part of CME, but it seems likely public social media postings and other traditionally private information will be included.
Personality testing remains controversial, but as a baseline you should overhaul your candidate screening procedures to make sure they’re not presenting a one-dimensional, resume view of applicants.
4. More demand for big data and cybersecurity professionals.
With five million security-cleared personnel to monitor, CME produces a significant technological, administrative and budget challenge for the federal government. Help your company compete for new contract opportunities by having big-data and cyber professionals in your talent pipeline. The Pentagon has already made a $9 million budget request for insider threat research. Expect that figure to grow.
5. An audit of your cleared personnel.
Some argue five million cleared professionals is too many. Others say the focus shouldn’t be on a set figure. Proposed legislation in the Senate includes desk audits of currently cleared employees to ensure they’re classified at the right clearance level, or have a need for their clearance at all. If your company doesn’t have a good mechanism for tracking clearance information for current employees (and we don’t mean just checking in JPAS when the question comes up), now may be a good time to establish one. It’s also a good time to make your cleared talent pipeline more efficient, and make sure candidates are matching up well with opportunities. As the number of cleared professionals decreases, competition for cleared, qualified applicants will increase.
NSA leaks, government shutdowns, the Navy Yard shooting…
2013 is a year we won’t soon forget.
Read 2013 Year in Review – our comprehensive round-up of last year’s defense highlights, brought to you by William Henderson, one of the leading experts in the security-cleared personnel profession. This also includes an interactive timeline, detailing all year-in-reviews dating back to 2008.