Back to hard copies for security clearance checks

It’s back to hard copies for those hoping to get a U.S. government security clearance.

In the wake of the recent devastating hacks at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that exposed security clearance checks on upwards of 18 million people, the government pulled down its online submission submission system, e-QIP, until all security flaws could be fixed.

{mosads}But that left the feds without a clear system to continue processing security clearance background investigations, potentially aggravating an already existing backlog.

Over the long Fourth of July weekend, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and the OPM issued a memo signing off on a pen-and-paper method of getting through the four to six weeks officials have said it will take to get the online system fully patched.

The memo instructs applicants to fill out a hard copy of the background investigation questionnaire and then provide it to the appropriate agency. Those agencies will not, however, send the form over to the OPM.

When the online system is back up and running, applicants will have to reenter their information digitally, “so that the required investigation may be completed through the regular process,” the memo said.

The interim process was revealed shortly after the senators from Virginia, where many federal employees live, wrote the OPM expressing concern about how the government was going to handle thousands of new background checks with its submission system down.

“Although the time that e-QIP is offline will allow OPM to address the current backlog, that down time will also mean additional submissions will continue to pile up, exacerbating the problem when e-QIP is brought back online,” wrote Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.

The OPM normally receives 20,000 to 30,000 background investigation forms each week. The agency processed roughly 1.2 million background checks last year.

These hundred-plus-page questionnaires probe for extensive details on people’s most private secrets, including sexual indiscretions and drug and alcohol abuse.

The level of personal detail make the information valuable to foreign hackers looking to gather blackmail information on U.S. government officials.

It’s believed Chinese hackers were after this type of data in the recent breaches at the OPM.