OPM | The Contracting Education Academy

March 13, 2019 By AMK

Security clearance process about to get its biggest overhaul in 50 years

The federal intelligence and human resources communities are preparing a coming out party for the first major update to the security clearance process in some 50 years.

For the last year, the Suitability and Security Clearance Performance Accountability Council has been working on the Trusted Workforce 2.0 framework, the start of a wide-ranging effort to overhaul how background investigations are conducted. Representatives from the intelligence community, Defense Department, Office of Personnel Management, and Office of Management and Budget are leading PAC’s efforts.

Over the next two weeks, the team plans to debut the finalized framework to the White House and Congress and offered a group of reporters a first look at what’s to come.

This is the first time ever that the legislative and executive branches are on the same page with regard to clearance reform, according to Bill Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, who is leading the framework effort along with OPM Deputy Director Michael Rigas.

The two agencies, along with members of the Defense Department, have been working to reduce the crushing backlog of security investigations, which topped 725,000 in early 2018. That backlog has since been reduced to 551,000 as of Monday. But that number is 100 percent above what security professionals consider to be the baseline “steady state” of 220,000 to 250,000 investigations in process at any given time.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2019/02/security-clearance-process-about-get-its-biggest-overhaul-50-years/155229/

January 23, 2019 By AMK

Researchers: Flaws in vendor security software could leave some federal buildings vulnerable

Researchers at cybersecurity firm Tenable have discovered a number of previously unknown vulnerabilities in the access control systems of an ID card manufacturer and service provider used by federal agencies, including the Executive Office of the President.

Tenable researchers announced Monday they had found several weaknesses in the control system used by IDenticard, called PremiSys, which if exploited could allow an unauthorized person to gain access to secure buildings and disable locks, as well as exfiltrate user data or otherwise modify accounts using administrator privileges.

According to a blog posted Monday, the PremiSys system uses hardcoded usernames and passwords for administrator credentials that cannot be changed by the customers. The system also uses default usernames and passwords for database access, which the users can only change by sending preferred passwords to IDenticard, an additional step that some might not take, opting instead to leave the default credentials in place.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2019/01/researchers-flaws-vendor-security-software-could-leave-some-federal-buildings-vulnerable/154231/

December 21, 2018 By AMK

Civilians are cheaper than contractors for most Defense jobs, internal report finds

Most jobs in the Defense Department are cheaper with civilian employees as compared to contractors, according to an internal Pentagon report, though the cost comparisons differ based on location, pay grade and job function.

Civil service workers are most likely to be less expensive than contractors performing the same work in the Washington, D.C. region and in the Southeastern United States, the report compiled by the Office of the Secretary of Defense found. More than 75 percent of comparisons in the Southeast the Pentagon ran between government and contract workers showed a higher cost for the private sector, and the capital region was not far behind. Government Executive obtained the never-before reported on document through a Freedom of Information Act request.

In 10 broad job groups the Defense Department studied, contractors came in as the pricier option. That compared to just four in which civilians were more expensive. When divided by Defense component the breakdown was essentially split, though three organizations had 75 percent of comparisons higher for contractor costs and just one saw the reverse.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2018/12/civilians-are-cheaper-contractors-most-defense-jobs-internal-report-finds/153656

December 20, 2018 By AMK

Pentagon to take over all security clearances in 9 months, officials say

The Defense Department and Office of Personnel Management expect to have merged two offices and moved 2,000 federal employees and a 600,000-case backlog of security clearance investigations nine months from now.

The new office will be established under the Defense Security Service by Oct. 1, 2019, Director for Defense Intelligence Garry Reid told the House Armed Services Committee during a hearing last week on the security clearance backlog. The office will absorb the National Background Investigations Bureau, established in the wake of the 2015 OPM network breach.

Originally, NBIB was created to handle the majority of background investigations while the Defense Department built out secure infrastructure to maintain those operations, called the National Background Investigations Services system. As the backlog grew—hitting a peak of 725,000 this April—Congress ordered NBIB to transfer Defense investigations to DSS. Rather than split the work between two departments, the administration plans to move all clearance work to the Defense Department.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2018/12/pentagon-take-over-all-security-clearances-nine-months-officials-say/153509

November 2, 2018 By AMK

Direct hire appointing authority authorized for GS-1102 positions

The federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has authorized new Government-wide, direct hire appointing authority for GS-1102 grades 11 to 15 in an October 11, 2018 memorandum.

GS-1102 is the federal government’s job classification series for contracting and acquisition personnel. More information on this job classification can be found at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1100/contracting-series-1102.

The direct hire appointing authority supports the White House’s effort to recruit and retain mission critical occupations and streamline the hiring of qualified individuals where there are severe shortages of acquisition candidates and/or critical hiring needs.

The new hiring authority means federal agencies may appoint individuals into acquisition/contracting occupations at the specified grade levels (or equivalent) nationwide. Individuals may be appointed to competitive service career, career-conditional, term, or temporary positions, as appropriate, without regard to provisions of 5 U.S.C. 3309-3318 or 5 CFR 211 and 337, subpart A.

See the OPM memo on this subject here: https://chcoc.gov/content/announcing-government-wide-direct-hire-appointing-authorities

The federal intelligence and human resources communities are preparing a coming out party for the first major update to the security clearance process in some 50 years.

Researchers at cybersecurity firm Tenable have discovered a number of previously unknown vulnerabilities in the access control systems of an ID card manufacturer and service provider used by federal agencies, including the Executive Office of the President.

Most jobs in the Defense Department are cheaper with civilian employees as compared to contractors, according to an internal Pentagon report, though the cost comparisons differ based on location, pay grade and job function.

The Defense Department and Office of Personnel Management expect to have merged two offices and moved 2,000 federal employees and a 600,000-case backlog of security clearance investigations nine months from now.

The federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has authorized new Government-wide, direct hire appointing authority for GS-1102 grades 11 to 15 in an October 11, 2018 memorandum.

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