Security Clearance Research Articles

Organizational Change and Security Clearance Reform: From the January 2021 Capitol Insurrection to a Future with Artificial Intelligence

ABSTRACT The Trusted Workforce 2.0 (TW2.0) initiative revamping the personnel security program made strides to implement the process of continuous evaluation (CE). CE isn't a new concept, though, but why did it take so long to implement? I argue TW2.0 built on previous momentum of evolutionary change to capitalize on a moment of punctuated equilibrium while utilizing best practices of designing for new technology. This paper will help to explain why rioters at the US Capitol with security clearances may stay in positions of authority, and it will also raise questions of what policies are needed for clearance reform in the future.

A Survey on Covid Safety System

Abstract: In this paper a Raspberry Pi based automated solution system focused on the real-time face monitoring of people to detect both face masks and body temperature with the help of MLX90614 sensor has been proposed. This is implemented using Python Programming with OpenCV Library, TensorFlow, Dlib Module. A security clearance system is deployed that will allow that person to enter if they are wearing a face mask and their body temperature is in check with WHO guidelines. A programmed hand sanitizer apportioning machine is mechanized, non-contact, liquor-based hand sanitizer gadget. Liquor is essentially a dissolvable, and furthermore a generally excellent sanitizer when contrasted with fluid cleanser or strong cleanser, likewise it needn't bother with water to wash off since it is unpredictable furthermore, disintegrates in a split second after application to hands. It is too demonstrated that a convergence of >70% liquor can execute Covid in hands. Here, we have used IR sensor detects the hand put close to it, the Arduino Uno is utilized as a microcontroller, which detects the distance and the outcome isthe pump starts running out the hand sanitizer. Thus, the above said system will help the society by saving time and also helps in contaminating the spread of coronavirus. This can be implemented in public places such as colleges, schools, offices, shopping malls, etc. to inspect people. Keywords: Deep Learning, Open CV, Keras, Python, Tensor Flow, Computer Vision, Raspberry Pi, COVID-19, DLib, Arduino, Sensor, Sanitizer, Infrared sensor

Self-equity as a trustworthiness measure: The relationship among self-equity and security clearance eligibility adjudications in US Army recruits

ABSTRACT The United States government’s clearance adjudication process examines past behavior to determine soldier eligibility for a security clearance. For young recruits with a short-documented history, however, little information is available. While informal social controls generally associate with criminal desistance, desistance speaks little about those who have yet to offend. This work extends informal social control theory to better understand military clearance eligibility adjudication outcomes as measured in terms of a self-equity construct. This analysis looks at a twelve-year cohort of US Army recruits who received clearance eligibility adjudication within the first five years of service, as recorded in military archival data in the Person-event Data Environment (PDE) database. Laub, Rowan, & Sampson’s (2018) age-graded theory of informal social control is tested to estimate models, capturing the self-equity effects of moral waiver, qualification-test percentiles, service time, rank, education, and childbirth–marriage interaction. The results demonstrate that self-equity substantively relates to security clearance eligibility adjudication outcomes. These findings carry policy implications for the creation of an objective trustworthiness measure in the absence of reliable documented history.

Not too deep: Privacy, resistance, and the incorporation of social media in background checks

In May 2016, the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) issued “Security Executive Agent Directive 5” (SEAD-5) (U.S. ODNI, 2016) authorizing the collection, use, and retention of social media information for the personnel security clearance process (PSCP), a process put in place to screen applicants for eligibility for national security and public trust positions. The incorporation of social media was a watershed moment for this process as social media, and even information from the entire Internet, had not been allowed into the investigation process before. The integration was not without resistance to the implementation, though, and backstage concerns about privacy emerged in Congressional hearings. What is most interesting to note, however, is that the resistance was for the most part in support of privacy for the potential employees of whom were receiving the check and the government’s obligations for the information collection; however, there was little, if any, mention of deeper, possibly problematic privacy concerns for the social media platforms and their mediated connections that co-create a second, derivative type of content beyond the access of their users. This paper examines the hearing “Incorporating social media into federal background investigations” in response to the SEAD-5 to see what the U.S. Congress did and did not discuss at the hearing and explores potential explanations for the inclusions/omissions, ultimately answering how those in charge of policies could have overlook deeper privacy complexities, and evaluating what this can mean for government, privacy, and policy researchers.

Chemical Properties, Biological Activities and Poisoning Treatment of Novichok: A Review

Novichok is an organophosphate compound found as a nerve agent chemical weapon. However, the information about its chemical properties, biological activities, and molecular interactions in the body are still protected under the “top secret” security clearance. Novichok, with the codes A230, A232 and A234, is a compound whose structure has been successfully determined. The compound is synthesized from a precursor through a nucleophilic substitution reaction. Novichok agents are considered more potent than VX gas and can be applied in unitary and binary forms. This compound has ability for the binding with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) due to inability of acetylcholine metabolism. AChE catalyzes the rapid hydrolysis of acetylcholine to acetate and choline. The treatment of Novichok agent poisoning is similar to management of other nerve agents, such as atropine and pralidoxime administered intravenously. In this paper, we reviewed the Novichok component from chemical and biological perspective. Moreover, we discussed the potential molecular interaction and treatment of this compound.

Flight Delay Prediction Using Machine Learning

In this fast growing world as airplanes continue flying, flight delays are the part of the experience. According to the Bureau Of Statistics(BOS), about 20% of all flights are delayed by 15 minutes or more. Flight delays causes a negative impact, mainly economical for airport authorities, commuters and airline industries as well. Furthermore, in the domain of sustainability, it can even cause environmental harm by the rise in fuel consumption and gas emissions and also some of the important factors including adverse weather conditions, preparing the aircraft, fixing of mechanical issue, getting security clearance, etc. Hence, these are the factors which indicates the necessity it has become to predict the delays of airline problems. To carry out the predictive analysis, which includes a range of statistical techniques from machine learning, this studies historical and current data to make predictions about the future delays, taking help of Regression Analysis using regularization technique used in Python.

VERY HIGH RESOLUTION SATELLITE IMAGERY UTILIZATION STANDARD FOR LARGE SCALE TOPOGRAPHIC MAPPING

Due to its large area Large Scale Topographic Mapping (LSTM) for Indonesia requires acceleration strategies that must be innovative enough to take into account the production efficiency. Satellite-based technologies are still a preferable choice especially in conjunction with the security clearance and weather. Standards for the Very High-Resolution Satellite Imagery (VHRS) utilization are essential, especially in a situation where there are so many available sensors and processing methods implemented. Hence, the selection of a proper geometric correction method is fundamental in order to utilize the VHRS imagery as one source of geospatial data especially for LSTM production and updating purposes. For CSRT geometric correction, an orthorectification process is required, where this process requires input data from the Ground Control Point (TKT) and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Therefore, the Least Square Adjustment (LSA) method is implemented to be able to include 8-9 GCPs per-scene (orbital and sensor parameters) and the DEM with a maximum resolution 4 times of the VHRS imagery’s Ground Sampling Distance (GSD) in the process of producing VHRS orthoimages. In addition, the role of orbital and sensor parameters is also essential for the geometric correction because its relation to the Direct Georeferencing (DG) of each pixel by Rigorous Sensor Model (RSM) approach. However, in the situation where the reliable orbital and sensor parameters are not available, the Rational Function Model (RFM) can be used as an alternative solution for the geometric correction of VHRS imagery. This paper discusses the VHRS utilization with a comprehensive approach that can be implemented in a local coordinate system i.e. the Indonesian Geospatial Reference System for the production of the reliable VHRS imageries.

حدود سلطات الضبط الإداري لمواجهة الأزمات والكوارث

That the administrative control function is a necessary job and that the person responsible for this job is the executive authority in conjunction with some other bodies, and all with the aim of squeezing the public order with its elements (public security, public health, public housing, morals, morals and public clearance). This is the desired goal. However, the state may face exceptional circumstances such as wars and crises, with which the ordinary rules are unable to face these extraordinary circumstances, which requires expanding the powers of administrative control and liberating them from being subject to the normal legal rules. So exceptional legitimacy replaces normal legitimacy and administration decisions issued in exceptional circumstances contrary to the principle of legality give legitimate decisions despite their illegality in normal circumstances.

Modeling Hearing Loss Progression and Asymmetry in the Older Old: A National Population-Based Survey

The progression and asymmetry of age-related hearing loss has not been well characterized in those 80 years of age and older because public datasets mask upper extremes of age to protect anonymity. We aimed to model the progression and asymmetry of hearing loss in the older old using a representative, national database. This was a cross-sectional, multicentered US epidemiologic analysis using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) 2005-2006, 2009-2010, and 2011-2012 cycles. Subjects included non-institutionalized, civilian adults 80 years and older (n=621). Federal security clearance was granted to access publicly-restricted age data. Outcome measures included pure-tone average air conduction thresholds and the 4-frequency pure tone average (PTA). 621 subjects were 80 years old or older (mean=84.2 years, range=80-104 years), representing 10,600,197 Americans. Hearing loss exhibited constant acceleration across the adult lifespan at a rate of 0.0052 dB/year2 (95% CI = 0.0049, 0.0055). Compounded over a lifetime, the velocity of hearing loss would increase five-fold, from 0.2 dB loss/year at age 20 to 1 dB loss/year at age 100. This model predicted mean PTA within 2 dB of accuracy for most ages between 20 and 100 years. There was no change in the asymmetry of hearing loss with increasing age over 80 years (linear regression coefficient of asymmetry over age=0.07 (95% CI=-0.01, 0.24). In conclusion, hearing loss steadily and predictably accelerates across the adult lifespan to at least age 100, becoming near-universal. These population-level statistics will guide treatment and policy recommendations for hearing health in the older old.

Modeling Hearing Loss Progression and Asymmetry in the Older Old: A National Population-Based Study.

The progression and asymmetry of age-related hearing loss has not been well characterized in those 80 years of age and older because public datasets mask upper extremes of age to protect anonymity. We aim to characterize the progression, severity, and asymmetry of hearing loss in those 80 years of age and older using a representative, national database. Cross-sectional, multicentered U.S. epidemiologic analysis using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005 to 2006, 2009 to 2010, and 2011 to 2012 cycles. Subjects included noninstitutionalized, civilian adults aged 80 years and older (n = 621). Federal security clearance was granted to access publicly restricted age data. Outcome measures included pure-tone average (PTA) air conduction thresholds and the 4-frequency PTA. Six hundred and twenty-one subjects were 80 years old or older (mean = 84.2 years, range = 80-104 years), representing 10,600,197 Americans. The average PTA was 38.9 dB (95% confidence interval [CI] = 37.8, 40.0). Hearing loss exhibited constant acceleration across the adult lifespan at a rate of 0.0052 dB/year2 (95% CI = 0.0049, 0.0055). This model predicted mean PTA within 2 dB of accuracy for most ages between 20 and 100 years. From age 80 years to approximately 100 years, the average PTA difference between the better and worse ear was 6.75 dB (95% CI = 5.8, 7.1). This asymmetry was relatively constant (i.e., nonsignificant linear regression coefficient of asymmetry over age = 0.07 [95% CI = -0.01, 0.2]). Hearing loss steadily and predictably accelerates across the adult lifespan to at least age 100 years, becoming near universal. These population-level statistics will guide treatment and policy recommendations for hearing health in the older old. 3 Laryngoscope, 131:879-884, 2021.

Secure Communication With Outdated Channel State Information via Untrusted Relay Capable of Energy Harvesting

In this paper, we consider secure communication via a wireless-powered untrusted relay with outdated channel state information (CSI). The low security clearance of the relay means that both the source and destination wish to keep information confidential from it. To prevent the relay from decoding the source information, the destination emits a jamming signal to the relay during data transmission by the source. The wireless-powered relay uses both the data and the jamming signals as valuable sources of energy for the amplify-and-forward relaying process. In addition, it can adopt either a power splitting or a time switching policy to determine the proportions of energy harvesting and information processing. However, when the CSI of the relay-to-destination link is outdated, the destination cannot remove the jamming signal completely from the relaying signal due to imperfect channel reciprocity. To evaluate the effect of outdated CSI on the secrecy performance, we derive the analytical expressions of two performance metrics, outage probability ( $P_{out}$ ) for delay-limited transmission and ergodic secrecy rate ( $\bar{R}$ ) for delay-tolerant transmission. The results of the analysis also allow us to find the jamming power level and energy harvesting ratio to optimize $P_{out}$ and $\bar{R}$ , respectively. Numerical simulations are used to verify the precision of our analysis, and confirm that the proposed secure relaying protocols accomplish near-optimal secrecy performances. Our results indicate that there is a need to reduce the jamming power level to ensure secure communication when the channel is severely outdated, while outdated CSI has a relatively low impact on the energy harvesting ratio.

Combat Stress Management and Resilience: Adapting Department of Defense Combat Lessons Learned to Civilian Healthcare during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Combat Stress Management and Resilience: Adapting Department of Defense Combat Lessons Learned to Civilian Healthcare during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Intention of Passengers towards Repeat Use of Biometric Security for Sustainable Airport Management

More and more these days, airport security is having to adapt to a greater number of passengers while keeping within finer margins of precision when it comes to clearing passengers for security clearance. Therefore, analyzing potential upgrades in the security process and adopting them in a way that does not impact passenger experience has become a key activity for airport managers. One viable technological solution that is not only effective but also efficient is biometric security. This technology allows for passengers to safely clear security based on their unique biometric features. Despite its promise, airports and passengers alike are slow to adopt its use. Additionally, there were few studies that revealed insights into passengers’ intentions toward repeat use of biometric security. Hence, in our novel attempts to uncover the underlying reasons, we implemented a study on passengers’ initial and repeat usage intention based on perceived benefits and risks of biometric security technology. Based on 327 survey responses, we employed the use of SEM to extract first- and second-order constructs before evaluating our hypotheses on a finally accepted model. To be aligned with the novel attempt of this research, the results showed that both the perceived benefits and risks have a significant impact on passenger’s initial and repeat use intention of biometric security. Therefore, for all practitioners engaged in sustainable airport management, strong consideration from this research should help in creating value for passengers while mitigating the risks of adopting biometric security within airport security settings.

Security performance analysis for power domain NOMA employing in cognitive radio networks

The power domain non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique introduces one of the fundamental characteristics and it exhibits the possibility of users to decode the messages of the other paired users on the same resources. In cognitive radio inspired NOMA (CR-NOMA), the base station (BS) has to serve untrusted users or users with different security clearance. This phenomenon raises a security threat particularly in such CR-NOMA. This paper develops a tractable analysis framework to evaluate the security performance of cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) in cognitive networks, where relay is able to serve two far NOMA users in the presence of external eavesdropper. In particular, we study the secrecy outage probability in a two-user NOMA system. This situation happens in practical the BS is pairing a legitimate user with another untrusted user. Main reason is that the non-uniform distribution in terms of trusted and untrusted users in the cell. By performing numerical results demonstrate the performance improvements of the proposed NOMA scheme in comparison to that of several situations in terms of different parameters. Furthermore, the security performance of NOMA is shown to verify the derived expressions.

Machine Learning Based Robust Access for Multimodal Biometric Recognition

For organizations requiring high security clearance, multimodal sources of biometric scans are preferred. Computational models for the unimodal biometric scans have so far been well recognized but research into multimodal scans and their models have been gaining momentum recently. For every biometric we used separately feature extraction techniques and we combined those features in efficient way to get robust combination. In this paper, a novel method for fusion of the scan images from the different modes has been introduced. The method is based on representation of data in terms of its sparsity. Feature coupling and correlation information are obtained from the biometric images. The images from each mode are fused by taking into account a quality measure. The algorithms are kernelised so as to handle nonlinear data efficiently. The result of the proposed system is compared to already existing image fusion methods to show its advantage over them.

Optimal Relay Selection for Secure NOMA Systems Under Untrusted Users

The key idea of non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is to serve multiple users in the same frequency band to improve the spectral efficiency. Whereas a security flaw emerges in the presence of untrusted users or low security clearance users who can access the messages of trusted users due to the spectrum sharing and may work as eavesdroppers. To achieve reliable and secure communications of NOMA systems under untrusted users, we in this paper propose two relay selection (RS) schemes termed decode-and-forward (DF) and amplify-and-forward (AF) protocols based optimal relay selection (i.e., DORS and AORS) schemes, respectively. To explicitly reveal the benefits of the DORS and AORS schemes, we derive the exact and asymptotic closed-form expressions of the secrecy outage probability (SOP) and positive secrecy capacity probability (PSCP) achieved by the two schemes, and analyze the optimality of the two schemes. Analysis and simulation results indicate that both the DORS and AORS schemes significantly outperform the benchmark schemes, in addition to achieving the same SOP and desirable PSCP at high SNR.

Postępowanie kontrolne wobec osób posiadających poświadczenie bezpieczeństwa a ochrona informacji dotyczących jednostki

This text presents considerations regarding control follow-up for persons who have a security clearance, the proceeding being aimed at verifying whether the said person still guarantees the confidentiality of secret information. As part of this proceeding, a person who is subject to a control review procedure is subject to restrictions on some of his or her rights and freedoms, in particular the right to protect information concerning him or her. The aim of the considerations is to present the control proceedings conducted against persons possessing security clearance, in the context of protection of the rights of the individual concerned.

Transmit Beamforming for Layered Physical Layer Security

In this paper, we propose a novel layered physical layer security model, which is the extension of the traditional physical layer security to the domain of multiple-layer information security. It has a hierarchical information security structure that every transmitted message has a security level, while every user has a security clearance. Users can only decode the messages with security levels lower than or equal to their clearance, otherwise they will be deemed as eavesdroppers. Based on the framework of the layered information security and assuming perfect channel state information of all users, an artificial-noise-aided optimal beamforming scheme is proposed to minimize the total transmit power at the base station, while satisfying the minimum secrecy rate requirements of all secret messages. Due to the intrinsical complexity of the formulated nonconvex problem, a safe and convex reformulation based on the first-order Taylor series expansion method is proposed to generate a tractable approximation. A successive convex approximation-based algorithm is then proposed, which solves a series of second-order cone problems with convergence to the stationary point of the original problem. We also consider the imperfect channel state information case, and then propose a worst-case robust design to overcome the influence of channel uncertainties. Semi-definite relaxation method and S-procedure are utilized to get a computationally efficient lower bound of the intractable power minimization problem. Moreover, we investigate the application of the suboptimal zero-forcing-based beamforming scheme in the system to tradeoff the achievable performance and the computational complexity. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed schemes.

SECURE ATM AND BANK TRANSACTIONS USING BIOMETRIC AND BLOCKCHAIN

The conventional Automated Teller Machines in Nigeria have over the past few years been faced with inherent security challenges, which have mostly been attributed to the two-factor authentication structure (PIN and Card) of the ATM systems. The Nilson’s report (2016) reveals that over 72% of ATM frauds within the period of the review were from card frauds, ranging from counterfeiting to card snatches. This record was able to soar so high since the identity thief is left with only one security clearance (PIN) to provide once the card is obtained. This work focuses on a multifactor approach to authentication which requires the presentation of three authentication factors: a knowledge factor ("something only the user knows"), a possession factor ("something only the user has"), and an inherence factor ("something only the user is"). After the presentation, the first factor and either of the next two factors must be validated by the other party for authentication to occur. This is to give room for exigencies and unforeseen circumstances such as loss/unavailability of mobile phones or lost or damaged fingers through accidents and aging factors. Although the proposed system does not promise a total eradication of ATM card frauds, and implementation of this design, it will to a large extent, reduce the occurrence and frequency of loss of money through ATM and card fraud since it provides an additional level of security. This translates to a more secure user identity, more secured funds and resources for the user and a more difficult and a less probable unauthorized access to an individuals’ account.

Artificial-Noise-Aided Optimal Beamforming in Layered Physical Layer Security

In this letter, we develop a novel layered physical layer security model to secure multiple messages simultaneously. It maintains a hierarchical security structure, in which each message transmitted from the base station has a security level, and each user in the network has a security clearance correspondingly. Focusing on the basic two-layer unicast system, we propose an artificial-noise-aided optimal beamforming scheme to maximize the higher level information security performance while adhering to the low-level information secrecy rate constraint. Due to the nonconvexity of the problem formulated, a successive convex approximation-based algorithm is proposed to earn a safe convex approximation of the original. Afterward, a low-complexity zero-forcing beamforming scheme is proposed to achieve high efficiency by reducing the computational complexity. Simulation results validate the superiority of our schemes on the promotion of the overall secrecy performance.