Recently, I was searching the Internet for books about security clearances. I was surprised to find how many new books there are on the subject. On Amazon®, I found 22 new titles that will be published after March 2022. This was especially unexpected, since in the 15 years leading up to March 2022, Amazon had listed only nine books about security clearances.*
After digging a bit deeper, I noticed that, with the exception of the books I wrote, none of my more recent books had any information about the author at all. Seventeen of my books had no sample pages. All of my older books have sample pages accessible through Amazon’s “Read Sample” (previously “See Inside!”) feature. Most of my older books also have information about the author on either the Amazon book page, a sample page, or a separate Amazon author web page.
In addition to my book, there were four other new books with sample pages, but the first five sample pages in all four were the same. Below are two example sentences taken from one of the sample pages that appears in all four books.
Those who share the view that the public should not have access to classified information should be positive about the actual services involved: in reality, the government decides on the level of secrecy and, after an agreed contract, provides the necessary classified information to hired workers.
Two of these four books had the same title and the other two had different titles, but all had different authors. All four were published on March 21 or 22, 2022, and had the exact same book description. The first sentence of each book description reads:
Special status is a status granted to individuals that allows them access to certain information (internal information of a state or public authority) or limited areas after thorough identity verification has been completed.
I’ve been in Federal security clearances for over 50 years and all of this makes absolutely no sense to me. I’m beginning to wonder if the recent books were created using artificial intelligence, and maybe even produced by the same person.
Looking more closely at the book pages on Amazon, I began to notice that many of the books had something in common. Sixteen of the books were between 129 and 132 pages long, were only available in trade paperback, and had a list price of $12.95. When I clicked the “Read Sample” button on the Amazon book pages, thirteen of these books showed a “Fun and Helpful Tips” page but no other content. Each book featured two “Fun and Helpful Tips,” but the tips were completely unrelated to security clearances. For example:
Diversifying revenue streams provides stability during market fluctuations.
None of the advice was interesting or helpful. The covers of both books featured an image of a clothing store mannequin wearing an orange T-shirt with the word “SALE” written in large white letters on the chest. The book title and author’s name were printed on top. I don’t know what idea the author/publisher was trying to convey with the image. Perhaps the intention was to make the customer pause and think about the inconsistency while reading the book.
Interestingly, seven of the authors have a period before their middle name instead of after it, suggesting that they all used the same glitched computer program. I noticed that many of these book titles contained words like “master,” “mastering,” “mastery,” “unlock,” “unlock,” “navigate,” and “roadmap.” Most of the titles were very long, and the subtitles were just as long.
To be honest, I have never written anything using artificial intelligence, nor have I read anything written using AI. I can only assume that 21 of the 22 books available on Amazon since 2022 were written entirely (without editing) using AI, by people with absolutely no knowledge or experience of federal security clearances. None of the authors had ever written about security clearances before.
Interestingly, a search on Amazon for books on information security and physical security revealed no books that were obviously “fake.”
I recently bought a Kindle™ version of a book on security clearances and it gave me headaches. Most of what I read was incomprehensible. It was written by someone with little understanding of English as a second language and no knowledge of security clearance terminology (grouped data, arranged data, ordered data, leeway, granted exceptional status levels, etc.). This book is completely useless for someone looking for information on Federal security clearances. If the quality and content of this book is anything like the other 20 books out there, I would be cautious when buying books on security clearances. With all the fuss about AI and how it can be used to create books that fulfill academic requirements, this was much better than I expected.
Policies, procedures, and standards regarding security clearances for federal employees have changed significantly in recent years. Many more changes have been approved and are in the process of being implemented. Federal agencies are better communicating changes in their policies and standards regarding clearances than in the past, but they do not explain how those changes affect applicants’ eligibility for a clearance. A 2022 RAND Corporation study found that “government sources, while comprehensive, are more difficult to understand than non-government sources.” It also found evidence that “online information is anecdotal, sometimes incomplete, and tends to focus more on the risk factors of clearance applicants.” Clearance applicants need clearly written, accurate, reliable, and up-to-date information about security clearances. It is unfortunate that we can no longer rely on book sellers to meet that need.
*The first book on federal employee security clearances was likely Elizabeth Newman’s 1998 “Security Clearance Law and Procedure.” Subsequent editions of this book were published in 2008, 2014, 2018, and 2021. All editions were printed and sold by Dewey Publications. In December 2000, the Defense Center for Personnel Security Studies published a 344-page report by Sheldon I. Cohen, “Security Clearances and the Protection of National Security Information: Laws and Procedures.” Both Newman’s book and Cohen’s report were written primarily for lawyers and personnel security practitioners. The first book to appear on Amazon.com on security clearances and written for clearance applicants was William Henderson’s June 2007 “Security Clearance Manual.”
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