Volume 1, Issue 10
SE&M Solutions LLC publishes The In-Brief to help keep government and industry leaders aware of important issues in the personnel security, suitability, Trusted Workforce 2.0, background investigations, adjudications, counterintelligence, industrial security communities.
Articles of Interest
NSF Investing $67M to Establish Center to Mitigate Foreign Threats to US Research
An article by Executive Gov reveals that the National Science Foundation is investing a total of $67 million over five years to establish the Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem, or SECURE, Center, which will work as an information clearinghouse to enable the identification and mitigation of foreign threats to the U.S. research enterprise. The SECURE Center will serve as a hub for five regional centers: SECURE Northeast, which Northeastern University will manage; SECURE Southeast, which will be managed by Emory University; SECURE Midwest, to be managed by the University of Missouri; SECURE Southwest, to be managed by The University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas A&M University; and SECURE West, to be managed by the University of Washington.
ODNI Tells Tech Startups to Be Cautious of Foreign Investments
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s National Counterintelligence and Security Center and partner organizations said in a joint bulletin that adversaries may steal sensitive data from U.S. startups and threaten national security. “U.S. emerging tech startups are at the forefront of American innovation, but they face risks when seeking potential foreign investment to expand their firms,” Michael Casey, director of the NCSC, commented in a press release. Security officials provided examples of how foreign adversaries may take advantage of startups using U.S.-based partners or intermediaries to avoid scrutiny. Read more at Executive Gov.
Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Espionage
According to Microsoft News, a Chinese national graduate student from Minnesota pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the Espionage Act for taking drone footage of Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding. The drone operator, Fengyun Shi, was flying the unmanned aircraft outside the 65th Street and Huntington Avenue Entrance of HII Newport News Shipbuilding when it got stuck in a tree. This violates the Espionage Act, which prohibits a person from taking pictures of companies that manufacture classified military equipment. According to court documents, the files obtained on the SD card showed he captured video of U.S. Navy vessels or vessels intended for use by the Navy.
Pentagon Leaker Jack Teixeira to Face Court-Martial
Military Times reports that Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira, who pleaded guilty in March to federal criminal charges for leaking highly classified military documents, will now face a military court-martial. Teixeira admitted to illegally collecting some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets and sharing them on the social media platform called “Discord”. He is facing military charges of disobeying orders and obstructing justice. Teixeira, who was part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, worked as a cyber transport systems specialist, essentially an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks.
Mexican Cartels’ Cooperation with Chinese Criminal Groups Poses Security Threat to the U.S.
Experts and former DEA agents are raising their concerns over the recent collaboration between Mexican and Chinese organized criminal groups, arguing that this could pose a potential national security threat to the United States. Latin Times reports that Ray Donovan, a federal drug agent, found in 2015 that Chinese criminal groups were laundering drug money for the Mexican cartels on an unprecedented scale. With the help of investigators, he later found that the same Chinese brokers who were laundering fentanyl proceeds were now heavily involved in marijuana trafficking across the United States as well. More than half a dozen retired senior DEA agents said that with U.S. law enforcement agencies focused on busting fentanyl traffickers and suppliers, Chinese money brokers and marijuana producers operated with relative impunity.
Tennessee Man Arrested for Allegedly Using Scheme to Raise Money for North Korea’s Weapons Program
An article by CNN reveals that the U.S. Justice Department has arrested a Tennessee man for allegedly working to raise money for North Korea’s weapons program. Matthew Isaac Knoot, 38, is accused of helping North Korean workers “pose as a US citizen” as part of a scheme to gain employment at American and British tech companies, and of conspiring to launder money earned by the workers to financial accounts tied to North Korean and Chinese individuals. Knoot also allegedly ran a “laptop farm” from his residences in Nashville that granted the North Koreans access to US internet connections to make it appear as if they were logging into work from the US rather than China, where they were based. It’s the second time in three months that an American has been charged with allegedly helping facilitate a wide-ranging North Korean fraud scheme.
Senator Pushes Fresh Reforms to How Agencies Manage Classified Information
Federal News Network writes that Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) earlier this month introduced the “Classification Reform for Transparency Act.” The bill would establish a presidential task force to streamline the classification system. The task force would be charged with narrowing the criteria that allows information to be classified. It would develop specific guidance around how agencies define “damage to the national security” and “intelligence sources and methods.” Both are often used as justification to classify information and keep it secret for long periods of time. In a statement, Peters said agencies face an enormous backlog of classified information awaiting declassification. He said experts estimate 50-90% of classified materials could be made public without damaging national security.
Electronic Medical Device Governance Board May Review Policies Regarding Digital Healthcare Instruments in Classified Facilities
Two Democratic lawmakers are looking to establish standardized policies and transparency requirements for the use of electronic medical devices in sensitive compartmented information facilities, or SCIFs. NextGov states that the legislative proposal, from Sens. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., would pave the way for employees who use certain healthcare instruments to work in the facilities that store highly classified information, while also still maintaining strict security standards. The bill is primarily focused on outlining the types of devices allowed in SCIFs, while also requiring officials to pay more attention to the medical instruments that are allowed and not allowed in the various classified facilities. Agencies do not typically allow electronic devices, whether cell phones or other digital gadgets, into SCIFs to maintain the security of the sensitive data stored within them.
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About SE&M
SE&M Solutions LLC is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) headquartered in Harrisburg, PA. We are experts in personnel security, continuous vetting, Trusted Workforce 2.0 (TW2.0) policies, processes, and information technology. We offer professional services and IT support including staff augmentation, consulting, planning and implementation for clients in the federal, state, local and commercial sectors. For more information, contact SE&M at [email protected].