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In this week's Inside the Reporter's Notebook, Executive Editor Jason Miller explores how DoD is developing its cloud security standards and Treasury is filling a financial management void.
The Justice Department has accused the company that performed background investigations of both National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis of defrauding the government, making false statements and breach of contract. DoJ's civil complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Alabama alleges the company, which is the government's largest contractor for background-investigation services, submitted at least 665,000 background investigations to the Office of Personnel Management that hadn't been properly reviewed.
Federal News Radio surveyed more than a dozen current and former federal officials about what technology and acquisition stories stood out last year.
The Justice Department has joined a whistleblower False Claims Act suit against the federal government's largest provider of background investigations. Filed under the False Claims Act, the suit alleges that USIS, which currently has a multimillion-dollar contract with the Office of Personnel Management, failed to properly review its casework before providing it OPM.
Despite progress by some agencies in processing FOIA requests, Patrice McDermott of OpenTheGovernment.org says its difficult to measure how open the government really is.
The same company that performed National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden's background investigation also performed a check of Aaron Alexis, the IT contractor who shot and killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard Monday. The Office of Personnel Management said it believes Alexis' background check was complete and that the Defense Department signed off on the results of the background check.
While the threat of a Sept. 11-style attack may not be as great, terrorism, either of the lone-wolf or state-sponsored variety, still poses a threat to the U.S. Agencies are moving to protect themselves in areas such as cybersecurity.
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is responsible for investigating the balance between counterterrorism security and Americans' privacy. The board is working toward a report on the National Security Agency's surveillance programs.
In the wake of the NSA security leak, questions are being raised about the security clearance process for which Edward Snowden was subjected. One security clearance expert tells Federal News Radio, that while the process for granting security clearances has become more efficient over the past few years, it has not become more effective.
The Defense Department is examining all of its contracts as part of the reductions necessary under automatic budget cuts. Reductions to contractors, not civilians, will make up "the majority" of the cost savings.
Booz Allen Hamilton announced Tuesday it has fired Edward Snowden, the contractor employee who admitted leaking details about classified National Security Agency programs to reporters. The company said Snowden was fired June 10 because he violated company policies, including its code of ethics.