[Infowarrior] - Overhaul Puts Pentagon in Charge of Protecting Federal Security Clearance Data

[Richard Forno]

Overhaul Puts Pentagon in Charge of Protecting Federal Security Clearance Data

• Damian Paletta

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/01/22/pentagon-to-protect-encrypt-federal-security-clearance-data/

WASHINGTON – The White House Friday announced an overhaul of the government’s security clearance system, creating a new division to handle screenings and directing the Pentagon to protect the data.

The creation of the National Background Investigations Bureau – and its close partnership with the Department of Defense – is the latest change to come after the sweeping cyber attack that hit the Office of Personnel Management last year. In that breach, which U.S. officials have said likely emanated from Chinese hackers, more than 20 million background check records and millions of fingerprint reports were stolen.

Many lawmakers were astonished after the breach to find that none of the background check records were encrypted, making it much easier for thieves to potentially use the information.

The NBIB will be a division of OPM, but the responsibility for protecting the information will shift to the Pentagon. The NBIB will incorporate an existing agency – the Federal Investigative Service – which already conducts background checks for more than 100 federal agencies.

The NBIB’s chief will be appointed by the president and it’s expected to have a higher profile than its predecessor.

Richard Hale, the Pentagon’s deputy chief information officer for cyber security, said Friday that “we will use encryption everywhere that it’s appropriate” and will look closely at what information should remain online and what records will be essentially disconnected from this network.

“We intend to apply the best practices that we’ve been able to apply” at the Pentagon, said Marcel Lettre, the Defense Department’s under secretary for intelligence.

The U.S. government conducts more than 600,000 security clearance checks each year for a wide range of agencies, including posts within the military and law enforcement.

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