The Clearance Story

If you hold a security clearance.....every five years....this 'dimwit' security guy will appear in front of you (doesn't matter if you work for the Pentagon, State Department, Homeland Security, FBI or whoever).....and he'll hand you a disk and demand you spend roughly two hours filling in various questions so they can investigate your background.  They want your addresses, travels, financial information, mortgage information, potential mental health issues, family background, etc.  

The 'dimwit' will take this info....in digital form, and incorporate it into their massive database.  The last time I did this (2009).....I asked the 'dimwit'.....how exactly do you protect this?  In the old days.....it was in paper form and went into a folder.  The 'dimwit' simply said it was protected and I had nothing to worry about.  I just looked at him, the floppy involved, and knew the guy had no idea what he was talking about.  

Well....this past week....the DC crowd came to admit that the Chinese cracked their stupid firewall, and got all the files.....apparently all of the present, future, and past employees (that kinda includes me).

The 'dimwit' crowd?  They are a bit shocked.  They can't explain how this all occurred but an investigation is underway.

No one will talk numbers.....but if they took everything.....there's probably over two million folders of a personal nature involved.  

Hostility and anger?  From what I've read.....there's some senators fairly peeved, and government unions want a 'bill' fixed up......a permanent and everlasting financial check service to protect all present, future and past employees with a clearance, and a one-million-dollar liability insurance for each individual.  

What will the Chinese do with the info?

Every time that some State Department or CIA guy makes it tough for China.....the Chinese will pull the guy's folder, and hand the personal info to some Chinese connection in Las Vegas.  He'll find "Barney" who will take the info and sell it to a ID-theft guy in Dallas.  This Dallas guy will use the ID and info to charge tens of thousands on this CIA guy's account.  Six months down the line.....the poor CIA guy will wake up.....and try to get the cops or FBI to hunt down his ID thief.  With present behavior.....nothing much will happen until the CIA guy hires a P-I and does his own work.  The CIA security department?  They will freeze this CIA employee and suspend his clearance.....possibly for six to twelve months. His value?  After a year.....he'll give up on the CIA as a career and find something new to do.  He's finished with them.

So, start figuring three-hundred such guys a year.  The Chinese aren't stupid....they will start selling their data to the Russians and French.  Eventually.....a whole generation of CIA employees will leave and things will have to be restarted with some new crew.

The damage done?  Worth billions.

All of this......tied back to the security 'dimwits' who kept telling people that they could hold their private information secure.