Security Clearance Jobs Blog

If you haven’t checked out our 2011 Salary Survey, it isn’t too late. Security-cleared professionals should be happy to read that they remain among the top earners, even in a recovering economy. If you add certifications to your security clearance you can expect added monetary benefits – check out our survey of the top 10 certifications held by cleared professionals.

Defense contractors still see the highest salaries with their expected earnings remaining relatively flat over 2010′s numbers at an annual take averaging $98,221. Government workers can expect $83,577 (but let’s not downplay the benefits of getting President’s Day off…), with the average salary among cleared workers in all sectors at $88,894.

Security-cleared professionals with an intelligence agency-issued clearance were on average the highest paid with average salaries of $96,089. Cleared workers with polygraph also earn approximately 22 percent more than their non-polyed peers. Project managers, sales or business professionals and engineers are among the top-earners in the cleared industry.

Other highlights from the 2011 Salary Survey? The unemployment rate for technology professionals has been significantly below the national average since 2001. A security clearance and the increased demand for cybersecurity professionals and we can expect continued upward pressure for cleared cyber workers.

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After resolving differences with the Senate version, the House version (HR 2701) of the 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) was signed by the President and became Public Law No: 111-259 on October 7, 2010. (This is the first IAA to become law since 2004; others either died in Congress or were successfully vetoed.) Here are the highlights:

• Requires reports, reports and more reports.
• Establishes the Inspector General (IG) of the Intelligence Community (IC).
• Requires ODNI to issue a directive concerning GAO access to IC information.

Reports containing the following information regarding security clearance are required:

1. Total number of active security clearances at each level as of October 1 of the preceding year and the number granted during the preceding fiscal year.

2. For each IC element by level of clearance:

• Time it took to grant clearances during the preceding fiscal year, expressed in terms of the average for the fastest 80%, fastest 90%, slowest 20% and slowest 10%.
• Number of pending investigations as of October 1 that have remained pending for 4 months or less, 4 to 8 months, 8 to 12 months, and more than 12 months.
• Percentage of cases that resulted in clearance denial/revocation during the previous fiscal year.
• Percentage of investigations during the previous fiscal year that contained incomplete/insufficient information.
• Number of cases that took more than 1 year to complete by investigative and adjudicative agencies and the cause for delays.

3. No later than April 2011 a report on Government-wide investigative standards, adjudicative guidelines, and quality metrics; a plan to improve professional development of adjudicators; and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of clearance reciprocity.

4. No later than April 2011 a report on the feasibility of reducing the number of investigative and adjudicative agencies to 2 each within a year and reducing the number of investigative and adjudicative agencies to 1 each within 4 years.

5. Not later than April 2011 a report by the IC IG on reciprocity of security clearances between IC agencies.

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An article in POLITICO this morning is an interesting tale. Apparently, the CIA is offering their operatives to the private sector.  The work they perform is not on “government time”, but as a side gig.   When I first saw this story, I thought it would be agents consulting along the lines of  corporate physical security or cybersecurity.   In fact, they’re working for Wall Street firms.

The CIA defends the practice as a type of talent retention program, where highly trained CIA officers can supplement their government salary without leaving the agency for the private sector, where they stand to earn 2x to 3x their current salary. POLITICO describes the work of one such firm used by Wall Street firms.

“The firm is called Business Intelligence Advisors, and it is based in Boston. BIA was founded and is staffed by a number of retired CIA officers, and it specializes in the arcane field of “deception detection.”

The tactics that BIA officials such as these teach hedge fund clients are based in a program it calls “Tactical Behavior Assessment” which focuses on the verbal and nonverbal cues that people convey when they aren’t telling the truth.

Often, BIA deploys its CIA-trained operatives to analyze quarterly corporate-earnings calls…and BIA uses them to figure out if the company may not be disclosing the truth…The information they gleaned from this phone call could be worth millions of dollars.”

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A Washington Post article on June 24, 2009 reported the planned establishment of a Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber-Defense Command by October 2009 with full operational capability by October 2010. The Cyber-Defense Command’s mission will be to defend military networks, but will assist federal civilian networks.

But a July 22, 2009 Associated Press article reported that a private study found “severe shortages of computer specialists in the federal government. Of concern is the potential threat to national security from increasing coordinated cyberattacks. In the article Ron Sanders, chief human capital officer for the national intelligence director’s office, acknowledged that the intelligence community has more flexibility and resources to attract computer specialists but said there is still an overall shortfall of U.S. citizens with the needed expertise who can also meet security clearance requirements. DoD claims more than 90,000 cybersecurity workers; other federal agencies are estimated to have a total of 35,000 to 45,000 personnel. The private study, Cyber IN-Security: Strengthening the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce, “which details serious problems within the professional community charged with protecting the government’s computer networks against attacks, was produced by the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Related articles: U.S. CyberSecurity Initiative Puts Focus on IT Security Skills, Cyberspace Policy Review, Cyber Threat Posed by North Korea and China to South Korea and US Forces Korea

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A June 20, 2009 article at WashingtonPost.com reported, The Obama administration has proposed the creation of an intelligence officer training program in colleges and universities that would function much like the Reserve Officers Training Corps run by the military services.

Under the sponsorship of the Director of National Intelligence the new program would expand on two earlier educational programs and focus on first- and second-generation Americans with language and cultural knowledge. Candidates would be selected from among sophomores and juniors at participating schools and would receive financial assistance similar to the support given to those in ROTC, plus paid summer internships. Participation in the program would obligate the student to serve in an IC agency for a period of time based on the financial assistance they received. The intelligence community (IC) currently provides funding to 14 colleges and universities for programs in national security studies.

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This is an odd story, but apparently 100% true. Those pesky Canadians have been slipping coins with tiny radio transmitters hidden inside in the pants of U.S. contractors visiting the country. I’m not entirely sure how contractors would be singled out specifically, but that’s beside the point. The Defense Security Service issued the warning yesterday.

On three occasions between October 2005 and January 2006, U.S. defense contractors with security clearance travelling in Canada were targeted. Naturally, the Canadian intelligence agency claims they have no knowledge of the coins.

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