Issue Encyclopedia · Guideline M · IT Systems
Unauthorized Hardware, Software, or Media
Does unauthorized hardware, software, or media affect a security clearance?
Basis: 35 decided hearing-level cases raising this issue. Descriptive history of decided cases, not a prediction.
Decided cases
35
hearing-level decisions raising this issue
Granted
23%
8 granted · 27 denied or revoked
Official mitigating conditions cited
| Condition | In granted cases | In denied cases |
|---|---|---|
| ¶ 41(a) · So long ago, or so unusual, that it is unlikely to recur | 3 | 2 |
¶ 41(a) · So long ago, or so unusual, that it is unlikely to recur
- In granted cases
- 3
- In denied cases
- 2
Recent decided examples
The applicant in this case was a 32-year-old cyber security specialist employed by a defense contractor since May 2019, seeking a security clearance. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agenc…
The applicant in this case was a 56-year-old cyber-security analyst employed by a defense contractor since March 2018. He faced security concerns under Guidelines M (Use of Information Technology) and…
Applicant, a 23-year-old software engineer represented by counsel, was denied eligibility for classified access. The judge found drug involvement and information technology system concerns mitigated, …
The applicant in this case was a 29-year-old former midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, who sought a security clearance after being discharged from the Navy under Other Than Honorable conditions due…
Related issues under Guideline M
How these numbers are measured
Scope: decided hearing-level cases whose per-allegation profile records this issue, matched to the same issue value the search filters use, so a count here and a filtered search always agree. A case raising several issues counts under each one. The mitigating conditions and the credited circumstances below were extracted for a subset of the record, so both are counts of cases rather than rates. Pages exist only for issues with at least 25 decided cases, and † marks any split built on fewer than 20.
Reading the statistics
- Granted = access granted or continued; Denied = denied or revoked.
- Grant rate = granted ÷ (granted + denied).
- † marks figures based on fewer than 20 cases, too few to be reliable.
- Hovering any rate shows its statistical range (a 95% confidence interval).
- Figures are descriptive counts over decided, public DOHA ISCR decisions, never predictions or assessments of any pending case.
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For attorneys and firms →Decided public cases: descriptive, never a prediction.