4 ms·
> The military is unfortunately chock full of functional alcoholics. As long as they don't get caught drunk on the job, seen partying too much, DIU, or admit an
by lesuorac 8mo ago
> The military is unfortunately chock full of functional alcoholics. As long as they don't get caught drunk on the job, seen partying too much, DIU, or admit anything to their doctor, they keep getting renewed their clearance.
Well yeah. If it's not affecting your job then what's it matter? If your a closet alcoholic then sure that's something the Russians could hold over you.
There's millions of people with clearances; that's impossible to staff at below market wages and also above average moral(?) standards.
- Aurornis 8mo ago> If it's not affecting your job then what's it matter? If your a closet alcoholic then sure that's something the Russians could hold over you Alcohol lowers inhibitions and alters decision making. Drinking a lot of alcohol more so than casual drinking. Frequently drinking a lot of alcohol has a very high area under the curve of poor decision making. Functional alcoholism can come with delusions of sobriety where the person believes they’re not too drunk despite being heavily impaired. So they’ll do things like have a few (or ten) drinks before checking their email. It makes them a better target for everything like fishing attacks, as one example. It’s not just about enemies holding it against you.
- vscode-rest 8mo agoGross misunderstanding of the threat model. Phishing is not the problem here. Your laptop isn’t getting SIPR emails with links to fake login screens.
- wongarsu 8mo agoBeing drunk at the bar/club/social event and telling that very interested lady a bit too much is probably the better example Still not as bad as being susceptible to blackmail or bribes
- vscode-rest 8mo agoThat is not correlated to Alcoholism. The “extremely hot spy” problem is essentially unsolved.
- QuarterReptile 8mo agoI got ads from the army about "extremely hot spy" over Valentines day weekend
- Aurornis 8mo agoI think you’re misunderstanding the threat model for why security clearance cares about impaired judgment of your off time, too. There’s more to these people’s lives than when they’re on the clock (figuratively speaking). Getting compromised anywhere is a problem.
- sigwinch 8mo agoI think you’re right. These are human systems always fighting the prior battle. Nowadays, it’s probably true that the threat from digital hygiene exceeds any intention to leak. The way that’s demonstrated is by the Secretary of Defense misusing Signal instead of being one level smarter and intuitively making the right messaging choice. The system is very much ready to build a preternaturally superimposing file on Pete Hegseth. But the system as a substitute for imagination is not elaborated to improve itself.
- sigwinch 8mo agoThey don’t ask about any of that. If in a drunken blackout you find a USB drive on the subway and plug it in, the system is concerned about the blackout state and not the USB. It’s self preservation depends on telling the difference between incompetence and deception.
- vscode-rest 8mo agoI will grant that if you experience frequent blackouts you will likely not get cleared.
- yowayb 8mo agoAnd, within high-trust societies (eg Japan, Korea, Vietnam) getting wasted lubricates social bonds in the workplace. I've met successful functional alcoholics. Seriously, they actually function and make lots of money. They're also fun to be around as long as you're not working for them.