Inside the IC

The Defense Intelligence Agency runs the federal government's top-secret IT network. DIA is in the middle of a major modernization of that network. And in addition to running new routers and switches, DIA also wants to upgrade to more network automation and help lay the groundwork for the intelligence community to leverage AI. Cybersecurity is also essential, both to defend against outside hackers and prevent insider threats. For the latest, I spoke with DIA Chief Information Officer Doug Cossa. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

More than three years ago, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency launched a “neurodiversity” hiring pilot program. The idea was to make it easier to recruit individuals with differences in brain functioning, such as people with autism, who could contribute to the mission, but may have difficulty navigating the traditional hiring process and workplace environment. Now, NGA is looking to build off its initial pilot program with a broader effort. For the latest, I spoke with Jen King, a senior GEOINT analyst and program manager for the neurodiversity program at NGA. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gen Z , or those born between the late 1990’s and the early 2000’s , will likely comprise at least one-quarter of the global workforce by 2025. In order to tap into that younger generation of talent, U.S. intelligence agencies are trying to be more flexible with their hiring and retention practices.For an in-depth discussion on the IC’s workforce strategies, I spoke with Cynthia Snyder, the assistant director of national intelligence for human capital.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The vast majority of employees across the intelligence community work out of Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, or "SCIFs." These are essentially highly protected office spaces with restrictive rules, including a ban on cell phones and other devices. The Intelligence and National Security Agency's latest white paper, "Reimagining the SCIF Life," considers how spy agencies could make life inside a SCIF a little bit better, while also giving employees more flexibility in terms of when they need to work out of a SCIF. Here's a link to the white paper: https://www.insaonline.org/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/2023/insa-reimagining-the-scif-life.pdfFor more on the recommendations, I spoke with INSA's Executive Vice President John Doyon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Army is making a strong push into open source intelligence. Earlier this year, the Army published its first OSINT strategy. The service's goal is to "professionalize" its OSINT workforce and use OSINT as an intelligence discipline "of first resort," Lt. Gen. Laura Potter, the Army's deputy chief of staff for intelligence, tells me in this week's show. Also joining the show is Dennis Eger, the Army's senior open source intelligence advisor. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The personnel vetting process is a major drag on the government's hiring ambitions. It can often leave candidates confused and in the dark, even before they start the lengthy background investigation process. So what if the government focused more on the "candidate experience," similar to the ever increasing focus on "customer experience" at many agencies? A new RAND report (link below) takes an extensive look at that question and offers some interesting recommendations. I spoke with Dave Stebbins, a political scientist at RAND and one of the lead authors on the report.Report link: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1990-1.htmlSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In a June 30 memo, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin directed Pentagon officials to take a range of actions to tighten access to classified information. The directive stems from a review of security procedures Austin ordered earlier this spring in reaction to the Discord leaks, allegedly by 21-year-old Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira. What do these new actions mean for security clearance applicants and holders? To dive more into that question, Inside the IC spoke with Dan Meyer, a security clearance attorney at Tully Rinckey. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For this episode, I speak with Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, about NPEC's influential paper, "Over-classification: How Bad Is It, What’s the Fix?" The over-classification of national security information has been a long simmering issue in Washington policy circles. But that debate was cast into the spotlight after 21-year-old Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira was arrested in April for allegedly leaking reams of highly sensitive documents on the Internet. In May, members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence introduced legislation aimed at reining in over-classification.NPEC's paper published earlier this spring - two years in the making, and released weeks before Teixeira's arrest - has a wealth of information and examples of over-classification challenges, as well as recommendations for addressing them. So can Washington come together to address its secrets obsession? "Part of me is optimistic, part of me is, I wouldn't say cynical, but skeptical," Sokolski said. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A new Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency project is looking to use psychology to thwart would-be hackers. Many cyber attacks these days use basic human psychology to get people to click on a link, for example, as part of a "phishing" exploit. But IARPA thinks it can flip that paradigm on its head and embed the "cognitive biases" of hackers into network defenses. For an overview of the effort, I spoke with Dr. Kimberly Ferguson-Walter, the program manager for IARPA's Reimagining Security with Cyberpsychology-Informed Network Defenses (ReSCIND) program.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.