Those of you sick and tired of hearing about top secret emails going to a private server should rethink what is important...
Security levels Edit
Security clearances can be issued by many United States of America government agencies, including the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Energy (DoE), the Department of Justice(DoJ), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The USA's DoE clearances include the "L" and "Q" levels. DoD issues more than 80% of all clearances. There are three levels of DoD security clearances: [1]
TOP SECRET – Will be applied to information in which the unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.
SECRET – Will be applied to information in which the unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to the national security.
CONFIDENTIAL – Will be applied to information in which the unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause damage to the national security.Despite the common misconception, a public trust position is not a security clearance, and is not the same as the confidential designation. Certain positions which require access to sensitive information, but not information which is classified, must obtain this designation through a background check. Public Trust Positions can either be moderate-risk or high-risk. [2] [3]
Information "above Top Secret" is either Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) or special access program (SAP) which are phrases used by media. It is not truly "above" Top Secret, since there is no civilian clearance higher than Top Secret. SCI information may be either Secret or Top Secret, but in either case it has additional controls on dissemination beyond those associated with the classification level alone. In order to gain SCI Access, one would need to have a Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI). Compartments of information are identified by code names. This is one means by which the "need to know" principle is formally and automatically enforced. Only persons with access to a given compartment of information are permitted to see information within that compartment, regardless of the person's security clearance level. As long as the holder of a clearance is sponsored, the clearance remains active. If the holder loses sponsorship, the holder is eligible for re-employment with the same clearance for up to 24 months without reinvestigation, after which an update investigation is required.
A Periodic Reinvestigation is typically required every five years for Top Secret and ten years for Secret/Confidential, depending upon the agency. Access to a compartment of information lasts only as long as the person's need to have access to a given category of information. |
