Dead Drop: August 28

THE FORT TELLS FEDS HOW TO HIDE:  Last week, the National Security Agency released a set of guidelines telling the federal workforce how to minimize the ability of bad actors to geolocate them using data from mobile phones and smart watches. NextGov.com quoted Neil Ziring of the NSA Cybersecurity Directorate as saying: “COVID-19 has created an environment rich with opportunity for our cyber adversaries, risks—not just limited to location data exposure—are certainly increasing,” said Ziring. “As long as mobile devices are being used, your location data could be exposed.” We’re not as smart as Ziring, but we kinda think in the current environment, it shouldn’t be that hard to track people down.  Most of them are home.

TOUGH COMMUTE: Who can blame Mike Pompeo when he became Secretary of State for thinking that his life would be easier if he didn’t have to endure a long commute to work (albeit in the backseat of an armored SUV.) Literally across the street from the State Department’s Foggy Bottom headquarters is a compound called “Potomac Hill” made up of very nice flag officer quarters administered by the Navy. Apparently, Pompeo thought it would be nice if the Navy rented one of the houses to him.  Alas, according to Politico, a top Navy Department lawyer “warned that the request was “problematic” and raised “factual, legal, fiscal and ethical” issues, not the least of which was whether he’d be displacing military officers already in line for the limited housing.” Fortunately, the Army came to the rescue of the West Point graduate and Pompeo reportedly now lives in general officer quarters at Fort Myer, Virginia. He reportedly pays “fair market value” in rent – although department spokespeople will not say what that is.  There are security savings for the taxpayer because of the Pompeo’s living on Fort Myer.  The Department of State says they save $1.5 million a year over what it cost them to protect the homes of former Secretaries Rex Tillerson and John Kerry.