Defense Security Shuts Down Computer System

WASHINGTON — A $100-million computer system installed two years ago by the Defense Security Service has been shut down for more than a week, the latest example of disarray at the agency that conducts background checks for Defense Department security clearances.

Persistent computer problems at the Alexandria, Va.-based DSS have contributed to a backlog of nearly a million investigations into military and civilian employees of the Pentagon, the armed forces and private defense contractors.

The computer system, hastily installed with little testing in 1998, crashed June 29 because of what officials called a data overload. It is not expected to be back up until Monday, said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles J. Cunningham Jr., who took over the DSS a year ago with a mandate to upgrade the computer system, shape up the investigative process and cut into the backlog.

Although the computer shutdown “was orderly,” Cunningham said, “we lost some files.” Restarting the system has been delayed because “it takes a lot of time to load data back into the computer.”

DSS Comptroller Robert Donnelly said the agency plans to spend $47.2 million in the next five years to “stabilize” its computers. It also has budgeted $235 million to hire four investigating firms to cut down the number of pending security checks.

Some of the 1 million employees awaiting checks are seeking new security clearances. But most of the backlog consists of employees who are due for reinvestigation of existing clearances. By law, reinvestigations are required every five years for a “top secret” clearance, every 10 years for a “secret” clearance and every 15 years for access to “confidential” material.

The DSS conducts background checks but does not actually issue security clearances. Rather, it forwards the results to the Office of the Secretary of Defense or the armed services, which decide whether to grant clearances. Often, the adjudicators ask for more information.

Last week’s computer breakdown, Cunningham said, was caused by increased data coming into the system as completed investigations nearly doubled from earlier this year to about 1,800 cases a day by mid-June. His goal, he said, had been to reach 2,500 case closures a day by mid-August, a rate that would represent more cases being closed than opened for the first time in years.

The breakdown was not unexpected. Gary L. Denman, president and CEO of GRC International Inc., a DSS computer contractor, warned that even with improvements, the system “still chokes” and that he was not sure “whether the software can handle it.”

One result of the computer problems is that a growing number of Defense Department personnel with access to secret information have not been subjected to security checks in more than five years.