US - The Pentagon may have issued top-secret clearances last year to as many as one-in-four applicants who had "significant derogatory information" in their backgrounds, including a record of foreign influence or criminal conduct, a little-noticed government audit says. (more) (sing-a-long)Ok, so your company is not The Pentagon, but it is as important to you as the United States is to a General. You depend on your employees not picking your intellectual pockets.
• Do you conduct background checks on key employees?
• Do you have them sign an intellectual property agreement?
• Do you have legally acceptable security measures in place?
• When was the last time you had your offices checked for illegal electronic surveillance?
UPDATE (the very next day) - A Pentagon official with "top secret" security Clearance has been charged with conspiracy to pass classified information to an Agent of China, officials said Wednesday.
Retired air force Lieutenant Colonel James Wilbur Fondren, a deputy Director of the US Pacific Command's Washington Liaison Office, became the fourth person targeted after a Chinese espionage ring was unmasked last year. (more)
