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

Online dating sites are a popular way for people to search out and meet others for dating and socializing. As is usually the case, there are also those who exploit the originally intended use of the sites for more nefarious purposes. Scammers use legitimate dating sites to make contact with

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Security Clearance Denial

Through the end of November 2017 the Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) Board heard 2,054 clearance denial appeals. As you can see, financial issues continue to outpace all other issues combined. Below is a breakdown by adjudicative category of the types of issues involved (Note – many cases

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Security Clearance Process

Due to an increase in inquiries on this topic I felt the need to post some information about overseas travel for security clearance holders. This information is only intended to provide general guidelines and requirements. If you already have a security clearance or intend on applying for one, I advise

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Security Clearance Process

The congressional push for a return to the “old days” when the Defense Security Service conducted all of the background investigations for the DoD prompted various news outlets (Federal News Radio, FedSmith, Government Executive) to weigh in. Even the Office of Personnel Management (parent of NBIB), which remained out of

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