Recent compromises of U.S. government national security information highlight the need to focus on the periodic reinvestigation (PR) process and make fundamental improvements. Policy makers have a unique opportunity to make long overdue adjustments to the security clearance process.

This report outlines an approach to augment PRs through a process of “continuous monitoring and evaluation” (CME) that will make reinvestigations more regular and consistent; improve the relevance and accuracy of PR data collection and analysis; and enable greater portability of clearance holder data. Our combining “continuous monitoring” and “continuous evaluation” into a single term, CME, is intended to emphasize our belief that workplace information technology (IT) use behavior and external personnel data can and should both be defined as inputs to a continuous monitoring process. Current directives define the terms separately (see Glossary). An “enhanced PR” does not replace the current PR process, but offers an evolutionary way to implement a state-of-the-art process to provide an ongoing perspective on cleared individuals rather than a snapshot every five years or more.