Security clearance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Developed Vetting)
Jump to: navigation, search

For use by the United Nations, see Security Clearance (UN)

A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information, i.e. state secrets. The term "security clearance " is also sometimes used in private organizations that have a formal process to vet employees for access to sensitive information. A clearance by itself is normally not sufficient to gain access; the organization must determine that the cleared individual has a need to know the information. No one is supposed to be granted access to classified information solely because of rank, position, or a security clearance.

Contents

Main article: Classified information in the United States

A security clearance is generally granted to a particular level of clearance. The exception to this is levels above compartmentalized access, when an individual is given access to a particular type of data.

The simplest security clearance to get. This level typically requires a few weeks to a few months of investigation. A Confidential clearance requires a NACLC investigation and must be renewed (with another investigation) every 15 years. However, this level of clearance is no longer used in the US military and has been replaced with For Official Use Only (FOUO), which does not require a background check.

A Secret clearance, also known as Ordinary Secret, requires a few months to a year to fully investigate depending on the individual's activities. Some instances where individuals would take longer than normal to be investigated are many past residences, having residences in foreign countries, or have relatives outside the United States. Bankruptcy and unpaid bills as well as criminal charges will more than likely disqualify an applicant for approval. Poor financial history is the number one cause of rejection, and foreign activities and criminal record are also common causes for disqualification. A Secret clearance requires a National Agency Check, A Local Agency Check, Credit investigation and must be reinvestigated every 10 years.

Top Secret is a more stringent clearance. A Top Secret, or "TS", clearance, is often given as the result of a Single Scope Background Investigation, or SSBI. Top Secret clearances generally afford one access to data that affects national security, counterterrorism/counterintelligence, or other highly sensitive data. There are far fewer individuals with TS clearances than Secret clearances. A TS clearance can take as little as 3-6 months to obtain, but more often takes 6-18 months, while sometimes taking up to 3 years to obtain. The SSBI must be renewed every 5 years.

As with TS clearances, Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) or Special Access Program (SAP) clearances are assigned only after one has been through the rigors of a Single Scope Background Investigation. SCI access, however, is assigned only in "compartments." See Compartmentalization (intelligence). These compartments are necessarily separated from each other organizationally, so an individual with access to one compartment will not necessarily have access to another. Each compartment may include its own additional clearance process.

A representative lists of kinds of information that may require compartmented access, without using specific national terminology, includes:

Such compartmentalized clearances may be expressed as "John has a TS/SCI", where all clearance descriptors are spelled out verbally. For example, The US National Security Agency used to use specialized terms such as "Umbra", [1] [2] [3] This classification is reported to be a compartment within the "Special Intelligence" compartment of SCI [4]. The various NSA compartments have been simplified; all but the most sensitive compartments are marked "CCO", meaning "handle through COMINT channels only".

The US Department of Defense establishes, separately from intelligence compartments, special access programs (SAP) when vulnerability of specific information is exceptional; and the normal criteria for determining eligibility for access applicable to information classified at the same level are not deemed sufficient to protect the information from unauthorized disclosure. The number of people cleared for access to such programs is typically kept low. Information about stealth technology, for example, often requires such access.

A common misconception is that security clearance holders work as spies or in intelligence fields. Anyone with access to classified data requires a clearance at or higher than the level the data is classified at. For this reason security clearances are required for a wide range of jobs, from senior management to janitor.

Jobs that require a security clearance can be found either as positions working directly for the Federal government or authorized Federal contractors. Over time, more clearance jobs are being outsourced to contractors. [1] Due to an overall shortage in security-cleared candidates and a long time frame to obtain the credentials for an uncleared worker, those with clearance are often paid more than their non-cleared equivalent counterparts. [2][3]

The vetting process for a security clearance is usually undertaken only when someone is hired or transferred into a position that requires access to classified information. The employee is typically fingerprinted and asked to fill out a detailed life history form, including all foreign travel, which becomes a starting point for an investigation into the candidate's suitability. This process can include several types of investigations, depending on the level of clearance required:

  • National Agency Check with Local Agency Check and Credit Check (NACLC). An NACLC is required for a Secret, L, and CONFIDENTIAL access. (See: Background check)
  • Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI). An SSBI is required for Top Secret, Q, and SCI access, and involves agents contacting employers, coworkers and other individuals. Standard elements include checks of employment; education; organization affiliations; local agencies; where the subject has lived, worked, or gone to school; and interviews with persons who know the individual. The investigation may include an NACLC on the candidate’s spouse or cohabitant and any immediate family members who are U.S. citizens other than by birth or who are not U.S. citizens.
  • Polygraph. Some agencies may require polygraph examinations. The most common examinations are Counter Intelligence (CI) and Full Scope (Lifestyle) polygraphs. While a positive SSBI is sufficient for access to SCI-level information, polygraphs are routinely administered for "staff-like" access to particular agencies.

If issues of concern surface during any phase of security processing, coverage is expanded to resolve those issues. At lower levels, interim clearances may be issued to individuals who are presently under investigation, but whom have passed some preliminary, automatic process. Such automatic processes include things such as credit checks, felony checks, and so on. An interim clearance may be denied (although the final clearance may still be granted) for having a large amount of debt or having admitted to seeing a doctor for a mental health condition.

Investigations conducted by one federal agency are no longer supposed to be duplicated by another federal agency when those investigations are current within 5 years and meet the scope and standards for the level of clearance required. The high level clearance process can be lengthy, sometimes taking a year or more. The long time needed for new appointees to be cleared has been cited as hindering U.S. presidential transitions.

The security clearance forms are available at http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/formslibrary.do by searching for SF86 and SF85.

In the U.S., once the clearance is granted the candidate is briefed on "the proper safeguarding of classified information and on the criminal, civil, and administrative sanctions that may be imposed on an individual who fails to protect classified information from unauthorized disclosure." He or she is also required to sign an approved non-disclosure agreement (e.g. form SF-312). High level clearances are reviewed periodically and any "adverse information" reports received at any time can trigger a review. When a cleared person leaves their job they are often "debriefed" -- reminded of their ongoing obligations to protect the information they were allowed to see.

In the post World War II era there have been several highly publicized, and often controversial, cases of government officials having their security clearances revoked. These officials include:

Further information: UK Security clearance

Clearance is checked at four levels depending on the classification of materials that can be accessed — Counter-Terrorist Check (CTC), Baseline Check (BC), Security Check (SC), and Developed Vetting (DV). Security Check allows an individual long-term unsupervised access to protectively marked SECRET material, whilst for TOP SECRET Developed Vetting is required. All Officers within the British Armed Forces are cleared to SC by default. Those with security clearance must usually sign the Official Secrets Act.

After America's entry into WWII, Britain changed its security classifications to match American classifications. Prior to the US coming into the war, the classifications included the top classification: "Most Confidential". Documents were then shared with the US, when they entered the war. Unfortunately these British classifications were not understood in the US and classified information appeared in the US press. This spearheaded the uniformity in classification between the UK and the US.

  1. ^ NSA Bibliographies. NSA Bibliographies (2007-09-27).
  2. ^ William H. Payne v. National Security Agency. William H. Payne v. National Security Agency (2007-09-27).
  3. ^ US Spying on Indian Nuclear Scientists. The NSA has been spying on Indian nuclear scientists by tapping phone conversations (2007-09-27).
  4. ^ National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 24. Declassified documents and Archive publications on U.S. Intelligence (2007-09-27).

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_clearance"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.