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.

Career Advice

For security-clearance holders, flat is the new up, when it comes to salaries and earnings. The good news is trends may grow more optimistic going forward. A Washington Post article discussed recent trends in security clearance compensation and the possible reasons for the decline.  When it comes to surveying salary,

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Background InvestigationsCybersecurity

In a follow up to a previous article highlighting how Chinese hackers attack U.S. networks, another story has hit the news headlines describing how former background investigation contractor USIS failed to detect a security breach by Chinese hackers who penetrated USIS information system firewalls for several months. The hackers gained

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Security Clearance Process

The Office of the Director or National Intelligence (ODNI) recently published a fact sheet on their website outlining some changes being implemented regarding the way that the Continuous Evaluation Program (CEP) will be conducted on security clearance holders. These changes were effected as a result of clearance reform initiatives that

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Security Clearance Denial

Not many are aware that Executive Order 10865 not only provides the authorities and guidance for safeguarding classified information, but it also provides due process requirements for those who may be issued a letter of intent to revoke or deny and a statement of reasons. Below are the provisions each

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