Author Archive

Marko Hakamaa

Marko Hakamaa served in various military police positions with the United States Army worldwide for 22 years before retiring in 2006 as a Master Sergeant. Afterwards, he transitioned into the civilian workforce as a contractor background investigator for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) before entering civil service as a Security Specialist in 2009.

Cybersecurity

The Cold War days of spies using microfilms, dead drops, and disappearing ink are long gone. Now they use cell phones, laptop computers, and remotely injected malware to steal information. As evidenced by stories about hackers and IT security breaches in the news every day, IT technology is a major

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Security Clearance Denial

A recent Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals case that involved financial, criminal conduct, and personal conduct issues resulted in the DOD CAF declining to grant the applicant a clearance. The applicant appealed the decision and had two hearings and was scheduled for a third prior to being terminated by

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Security Clearance Denial

I recently ran across a DOE security clearance appeals case where an individual was denied a security clearance due to financial issue concerns. Well, you say, so what? Financial issues are the number one reason for a denial, right? What made this case unique was that it involved a psychological

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Background Investigations

It seems every day we hear a new story about some company or government agency getting hacked by unknown perpetrators who steal sensitive identity or financial information. Think…….Yahoo, LinkedIn, Oracle, Target, State Department, Office of Personnel Management, and the Internal Revenue Service just to name a few. As a result,

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