Defense Security Service | The Contracting Education Academy

July 17, 2019 By AMK

Pentagon aims to expedite security clearance process with $75 million award

Perspecta Enterprise Solutions LLC won a $75 million other transaction agreement on May 14 to continue modernization of the federal security clearance process, in particular with machine learning and related technology.

The Defense Security Service and Defense Information Systems Agency awarded the 24-month OTA, which covers improvements to National Background Investigation Services information technology.

Perspecta will help DSS — which will eventually be renamed the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency — expedite background investigations, adjudications, continuous vetting and insider-threat programs by creating a Security Enterprise Architecture and Data Services prototype.

When a new employee or transfer needs clearance, the prototype will use machine learning and natural language processing to pull from disparate data sources to fill out form information. Previously a full investigative package was prepared manually and handed over for adjudication.

Keep reading article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/security-clearances-perspecta-enterprise-solutions-ota/

July 20, 2018 By AMK

Defense Security Service is trying to overhaul the entire security clearance process

The Defense Security Service is preparing to take over all background investigations for civilian and defense agencies and doesn’t want to inherit stale and potentially broken processes, officials told Nextgov.

The Defense Department office is currently reviewing white papers obtained through an other transaction authority solicitation seeking innovative methods for conducting background checks of current and potential federal employees who need security clearances.

The project is not about the technology behind background investigations process but rather how to innovate the process itself—from when the SF-86 form is filled out to when the clearance decision is made by the agency—according to Tara Petersen, head of DSS Office of Acquisitions, and her deputy, Stephen Heath.

“We’re really looking broader at the process itself,” Petersen said. “We’re looking to prototype a process.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2018/07/defense-security-service-trying-overhaul-entire-security-clearance-process/149606/

May 16, 2018 By AMK

Agency that vets Pentagon contractors’ security isn’t keeping up with the threat, audit finds

The Pentagon agency responsible for vetting contractors that handle classified information isn’t keeping up with the threat, according to an auditor’s report released Monday.

The Defense Security Service, or DSS, is responsible for vetting the security of over 12,000 contractor facilities, but could only accomplish about 60 percent of its workload during the 2016 fiscal year, according to the Government Accountability Office report.

That’s despite DSS’ own statement “that the United States is facing the most significant foreign intelligence threat it has ever encountered,” the report states.

DSS security reviews are broadly similar to the personal security clearances that government employees and contractors undergo and include issues such as a company’s foreign ties and risky past behavior.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2018/05/agency-vets-pentagon-contractors-security-isnt-keeping-threat-audit-finds/148201/

Perspecta Enterprise Solutions LLC won a $75 million other transaction agreement on May 14 to continue modernization of the federal security clearance process, in particular with machine learning and related technology.

The Defense Security Service is preparing to take over all background investigations for civilian and defense agencies and doesn’t want to inherit stale and potentially broken processes, officials told Nextgov.

The Pentagon agency responsible for vetting contractors that handle classified information isn’t keeping up with the threat, according to an auditor’s report released Monday.

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