July 29, 2019

Background Investigation Mission Moving

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Department of Defense (DoD) will realign the National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB) with the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) on September 29, 2019. Section 951 of the National Defense Authorization Act of FY18 and Executive Order 13869 provide direction for realigning NBIB personnel, resources, and functions to DoD. This morning, the OPM notified NBIB employees that their positions will be transferred to the DCSA on September 29, 2019. DCSA also notified NBIB employees that their positions will be reestablished under the Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System. More about this action can be found here.

July 24, 2019

DISS Tips and Tricks-Customer Service Request (CSR)

The Vetting Risk Operations Center (VROC) is providing a CSR Tips and Tricks guide to assist industry in creating CSRs in the Defense Information System for Security (DISS).

July 9, 2019

DISS Provisioning

Beginning August 1, 2019, the Vetting Risk Operations Center will ONLY accept NDAs/SF-312s and CSRs (formally known as RRUs in JPAS) through the Defense Information System for Security (DISS). It is imperative that you obtain a DISS account prior to August 1, 2019

June 24, 2019

Support for Windows 7 ends soon

Microsoft has announced that after January 14, 2020, they will no longer provide security updates or support for computers running Windows 7. The NISP Authorization Office is encouraging industry partners to beginning working with government sponsors to adapt a strategy for migrating from Windows 7 to Windows 10 as soon as practical. Microsoft has posted some questions and answers at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsforbusiness/end-of-windows-7-support.

June 24, 2019

New agency name, acting director

Consistent with Executive Order 13869, "Transferring Responsibility for Background Investigations to the Department of Defense," the Acting Secretary of Defense has renamed the Defense Security Service to be the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). This action became effective June 20, 2019. Charles Phalen, Jr. will serve as the Acting Director of the DCSA effective July 1, 2019. Mr. Phalen will remain the Director of the National Background Investigations Bureau. Mr. Phalen's dual-appointment will be in effect until a permanent DCSA Director is named. DCSA will serve as the primary Federal entity for conducting background investigations for the Federal Government. The DCSA will also, as a continuation of the former DSS, serve as the primary Department of Defense component for the National Industrial Security Program and will execute responsibilities relating to continuous vetting, insider threat programs, and any other responsibilities assigned to it by the Secretary of Defense.

June 19, 2019

eMASS service interruption

An Authorized Service Interruption (ASI) for Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS) v5.6.3 deployment has been scheduled for Thursday, June 20, 2019, from 4-11 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. All eMASS instances, including National Industrial Security Program eMASS, will be inaccessible and any data and/or information entered will not be saved during the ASI. Please contact the eMASS mailbox,dss.quantico.dss.mbx.emass@mail.mil with your questions

June 12, 2019

2019 Cogswell winners announced

The Defense Security Service (DSS) congratulates the winners of the 2019 James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement Award. Fifty-one facilities were selected for the award, which was presented today at the annual NCMS training seminar, in St. Louis, Mo. These 51 facilities were chosen from approximately 13,000 cleared facilities. The award criterion focuses on principles of industrial security excellence, and factors include establishing and maintaining a security program that far exceeds the basic National Industrial Security Program requirements. The award was established in 1966 in honor of the late Air Force Col. James S. Cogswell, the first chief of industrial security within the Department of Defense. Cogswell was responsible for developing the basic principles of the Industrial Security Program, which includes an emphasis on the partnership between industry and government to protect classified information.

May 30, 2019

Filling in the 'Prime Contract Number' field in JPAS when submitting personnel security clearance investigations

DSS may reject investigation submissions that don't include the prime contract number, as shown in the associated guidance. The prime contract number is a required field in the Joint Personnel Adjudication System for personnel security clearance investigations. Please contact the VROC Knowledge Center for questions (888) 282-7682, select option #1 then option #2.

May 28, 2019

Personnel Security specialist hiring event

DSS is holding an invitation-only hiring event for personnel security specialists on July31 and August 1! Get more details here Positions will be at grades GG-07/09/11/12 and based in Anne Arundel County, Md. For interview consideration, please send resumes by June 28 to: dss.quantico.dss-HQ.mbx.dss-careers@mail.mil

May 23, 2019

OTA awarded for Defense Security Vetting

Defense Security Service and Defense Information Systems Agency awarded an other Transaction Agreement for nearly $75 million to Perspecta Enterprise Solutions LLC, May 14. The OTA will support the continued reform and modernization of the security clearance personnel vetting processes. More details about the OTA can be found at: NBIS_OTA_for_21May2019.pdf