October 2009
Monthly Archive
CIA Investing in Company to Monitor Your Blog and Tweets?
Posted by Evan Lesser on 22 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: Chit-Chat, Cleared News, Cybersecurity
Per this new article on Wired, the CIA is using its relationship with In-Q-Tel to buy into a company called Visible Technologies. Visible Technologies is a software company that specializes in monitoring the social web, including Twitter, blogs, Facebook, YouTube, and others.
In-Q-Tel says it wants Visible to keep track of foreign social media, and give spooks “early-warning detection on how issues are playing internationally,” spokesperson Donald Tighe tells Danger Room.
Good idea? We think so. The ability to communicate quickly via social networks is no doubt an attractive prospect to terrorists. By compiling data, seeing trends, and possibly getting early warnings, the U.S. intelligence community is smart to jump into this game early.
OPM Submits New Version of SF86 for Review
Posted by William Henderson on 22 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: Cleared News, Getting/Updating a Clearance
On September 30, 2009 the Federal Register announced that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has submitted a proposed revision of Standard Form 86 (SF86), Questionnaire for National Security Positions, for 30-day public review and comment.
The current version of the SF86 (July 2008) has only been in use for about a year and changed the previous version (September 1995) by adding a new section on “Use of Information Technology Systems” and expanding the sections on “Foreign Contacts,” “Foreign Activities,” “Financial Record,” “Use of Alcohol,” and “Association Record.”
The new proposed revision of the SF86 eliminates all references to the SSBI and its requirement for 10 years worth of information. Questions are limited to 7 years, except for those that ask “have your ever.” The proposed SF86 also expands on questions regarding dual citizenship, foreign activities, mental health, and police record. OPM issued a Matrix of Changes between the current and proposed versions.
Here are some proposed changes:
• Employment Record: The questions “Left a job for other reasons under unfavorable circumstances” and “Laid off from job by employer” were eliminated.
• People Who Know You Well: Reference coverage reduced from 7 years to 5 years.
• Financial Record: (1) Current and past delinquent debt changed to 120 days (were 90 days and 180 days, respectively). (2) Current credit counseling question added.
• Police Record: (1) Offenses involving firearms, explosive, drugs and alcohol limited to 7 years. (2) New questions on domestic violence offenses and protective orders. (3) New question on current or past probation or parole. (4) Question regarding felony charges replaced by question about convictions resulting in a sentence of one year or more in prison.
2009 Security Clearance Salary Survey
Posted by Evan Lesser on 08 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: Cleared Career Advice, Cleared News, Security Clearance Jobs
The 2009 Security Clearance Salary Survey of 5,023 security-cleared job seekers conducted by ClearanceJobs.com has been released! See how you compare with your colleagues!
After you complete this short survey, you will be provided with the most current salary survey results in an 8 page [pdf] report for free!
Applying for Security Clearance and have Delinquent Debt?
Posted by William Henderson on 07 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: Cleared News
What should you do…
1. Start correcting the problem immediately, document all efforts, and keep a chronology of activities.
2. Get credit reports from all three national credit reporting companies and use the reports to make a list of all your creditors, but understand its limits. Things that sometimes don’t show up on a credit report including unpaid alimony, tax delinquencies, automobile leases, and some other debts. Occasionally erroneous and duplicate information appears on a report. Although the clearance application form (SF86) only asks for 7 year’s worth of financial information; adjudicators may consider all financial information available to them, including financial information collected by field investigators from court records, rental/utility records, personal references, real estate records, and employment records that does not appear on a credit report.
3. Immediately take action to dispute any erroneous information on the credit report.
4. Make at least minimum regular monthly payments to all creditors.
5. Contact those creditors that have unpaid claims against you, insure that the claims are legitimate, and set up a repayment schedule as soon as possible. Try to communicate in writing and keep copies of all correspondence. If you communicate by telephone, make a written record of the telephone call and include the date, name of the person you spoke to, and a gist of the conversation.
6. Seek credit counseling if necessary, preferably with organizations that is a member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. They may be able to negotiate better repayment terms and lower interest rates than you are able to obtain by yourself.
7. Don’t be afraid of bankruptcy, if your situation warrants it. If you seek the services of a reputable credit counseling service first, they will advise you whether your situation can be resolved better through bankruptcy or debt consolidation.
William H. Henderson is a retired security investigator, author of Security Clearance Manual, and regular contributor to ClearanceJobsBlog.com and ClearanceJobs.com.
