DCSA Director Updates DOD, Government, Industry and University Leaders on DCSA Counter Insider Threat Programs

Photo By Christopher Gillis | The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency's Director, William K. Lietzau, provides remarks about the DCSA mission to attendees at the Defense Strategies Institute's 6th Annual Counter-Insider Threat Symposium held at the National Harbor's Sunset room, Oct. 20, 2021. (DoD photo by Christopher P. Gillis)  

QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

10.21.2021

Story by John Joyce 

Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) Director William Lietzau told military, government, industry and academic leaders that the expansion of DOD Counter Insider Threat programs, hubs and personnel are proving effective in countering potential insider threats during an Oct. 20 symposium.

“We have to stay a step ahead" of our adversaries and "from a DCSA-perspective, we are absolutely committed to doing that," said Lietzau at the Defense Strategies Institute Counter Insider Threat Symposium in a speech with a theme focused on safeguarding the integrity and trustworthiness of the federal workforce.

The audience – about 130 senior officials and professionals expert in countering insider threats – listened while Lietzau briefed them on the DCSA Insider Threat Program’s capability to protect people and assets from potential insider threats.

Recounting the history of warfare, Lietzau pointed out that nations won wars with larger armies when weapon technologies were not available or advanced enough to give them an advantage. He emphasized that the capability to counter insider threats increases significantly with an expanding DOD and DCSA insider threat team. The government’s ongoing increase in counter insider threat programs, hubs, experts and trained personnel are infused with an “elevated training component,” he said, resulting in an upsurge of 4.85 million annual insider threat course completions over the past fiscal year.

The DCSA Insider Threat Program addresses and analyzes information from multiple sources on concerning behaviors and any risks that could potentially harm people, resources and capabilities. The agency’s DOD Insider Threat Management and Analysis Center (DITMAC) provides the DOD enterprise with a capability to identify, assess and mitigate risk from insiders while managing unauthorized disclosures and integrating, maturing and professionalizing counter insider threat capabilities.

“I’m a firm believer that insider threat programs need to be spread out across the DOD enterprise,” said Lietzau, who leads the personnel vetting and critical technology protection missions under DCSA and manages approximately 10,000 federal and contract personnel worldwide. He assured the audience that a large and pervasive counter insider threat team will win as DCSA endeavors to protect national security throughout the government and industry with a coordinated and consolidated approach to security policies and reporting capabilities.

“It’s the gatekeeper who stands at the gate and protects against all security threats,” said the DCSA director in reference to the agency’s axiom as “America’s Gatekeeper,” adding that in medieval times, gatekeepers stood guard against external adversaries but today, DCSA is working with DOD, government and industry to protect against threats from external and internal sources.

Lietzau announced that DCSA enrolled 3.8 million security clearance holders “including full enrollment of DOD” in the agency’s Trusted Workforce (TW) Continuous Vetting (CV) system. "I could not be more proud of that accomplishment,” he said, adding that “most if not all of you are enrolled.”

CV ensures a trusted workforce with automated record checks, including information from government and commercial data sources. When DCSA receives an alert, the agency assesses whether the alert is valid and worthy of further investigation and adjudication.

"We are on a good trajectory with Trusted Workforce 2.0," said Lietzau. “It’s a major improvement of how we identify people and prevent potential threats."

TW 2.0, the whole-of-government approach to reform the personnel security process and establish a single vetting system for the U.S. Government, began implementation in 2018 following extensive planning and interagency coordination. National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) will be the backbone of TW 2.0, serving as the secure IT system that will coordinate and connect the systems, interfaces and databases that support continuous vetting.

DCSA Major Mission Areas

Lietzau also informed the audience that DCSA’s recent reorganization focused on four major mission areas to safeguard the nation from internal and external threats – personnel vetting, industrial security, training and the DCSA Threat Mission Center.

The personnel vetting mission area – supported by the NBIS information technology system – covers background investigations, adjudications and Vetting Risk Operations.

As a consolidated system designed to deliver robust data protection, enhance customer experience, and better integrate data across the federal enterprise, NBIS will enable vetting from initiation and application to background investigation, adjudication and continuous vetting. DCSA is developing NBIS to build upon and replace a suite of legacy background investigation information systems that will be decommissioned in stages through 2023.

DCSA’s industrial security mission area includes the Critical Technology Protection (CTP) Mission Center and its customer-facing components. The CTP Mission Center supports the agency's overarching mission to protect national security by clearing industrial facilities, personnel, and associated information systems in approximately 10,000 cleared companies and 12,500 cleared facilities.

The training mission area, led by the DCSA Training Directorate, includes the Center for Development of Security Excellence (CDSE) and the National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA). CDSE develops, delivers and exchanges security knowledge to ensure a high-performing DOD and federal workforce capable of addressing the nation’s security challenges. NCCA serves as the government's premiere educational center for polygraph and other credibility assessment technologies and techniques. Its central mission is to assist federal agencies in the protection of U.S. citizens, interests, infrastructure and security by providing credibility assessment training, oversight and research.

The agency’s Threat Mission Center supports counterintelligence, cybersecurity and DITMAC efforts.

• Date Taken: 10.21.2021
• Date Posted: 10.25.2021 17:23
• Story ID: 407739
• Location: QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, US