DoD to Continuously Scour Open-Source Data on Clearance Holders

As another part of the shift from decades old practices of reinvestigating security clearance holders every 5 or 10 years, the DoD will focus on beefing up IT systems and resources that will continuously scour open-source data for information that may indicate problems. New applicants still have to go through the investigation process, but once completed and adjudicated, they will fall under a Continuous Evaluation Program (CEP) software system that scans court and arrest records, social media sites, and financial reporting services. There are currently over a million DoD members already in the program.

How will it work? Here is my best guestimate: Joe Clearance Holder is enrolled in the CEP and gets arrested in Orlando, FL for drunk and disorderly while on vacation. During a routine scan the system gets a hit on his name and date of birth in the Orange County Clerk’s Office online court system. This information would get routed to the desk of a security analyst for follow-up. If the analyst determines that the person is the same as the one in the CEP, they would gather the details of the arrest and send them over to an adjudicator for review. The adjudicator would contact the organization’s Security Officer or Company FSO to see if the incident was self-reported. If not, then an incident report would be initiated and a full security file review conducted to determine if further action is needed.

Keep in mind, this is the future and we have a long way to go to get there (750,000 cases), but it does sound like a more efficient way to get things done and will rely less on investigators and self-reporting than in the current system. Policy guidance and what exactly constitutes adverse information is still subject to interpretation, but this is a step in the right direction.