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List of U.S. security clearance terms

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This is a List of U.S. security clearance terms.

[edit] Description

Security clearance levels are used as part of a method to control access to information that should not be freely available to all personnel.
Due to the nature of security classifications and clearances, often people incorrectly identify their clearances by a combination of actual clearance level, additional access controlre-org intros, caveats, and the organization who granted them clearance^{[citation needed]}. In addition, different organizations within the Federal government use different terminology and lettering, as is discussed below.

[edit] Use

Security clearance levels often appear in employment postings for Defense related jobs. Employers generally prefer to hire people who are already cleared to access classified information at the level needed for a particular job or contract, because security clearances can usually take up to a year to obtain^[1]. In general, most employers look for candidates that hold an active Department of Defense (DoD) collateral clearance or a blanket TS/SCI-cleared (Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information) individual that has successfully completed a counterintelligence (CI) or full-scope polygraph (FSP).

[edit] Security levels

Security clearances can be issued by many United States government agencies, including the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy (DoE), the Department of Justice, and the Central Intelligence Agency. DoE clearances include the 'L' and 'Q' levels. DoD issues more than 80% of all clearances. There are three levels of DoD security clearances^[2]

Confidential
Secret
Top Secret
Information "above Top Secret" is called Sensitive Compartmentalized Information (SCI). It is not truly "above" Top Secret, although that phrase is often used in the media and movies. 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. Compartments of information are identified by code words. 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. A security clearance is good for a number of years and must be renewed thereafter. Unlike a security clearance, which lasts for a given period of time after a background investigation, access to a compartment of information lasts only as long as the person's need to have access to the particular category of information.

NOTE: Unclassified (U) is a valid security description, especially when indicating unclassified information within a document classified at a higher level. For example, the title of a Secret report is often unclassified, and must be marked as such.
For access to information at a particular classification level, individuals must have been granted access by the sponsoring government organization at that or a higher classification level, and have a need-to-know the information. The government also supports access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) and Special access programs (SAPs) in which access is determined by need-to-know. These accesses require increased investigative requirements before access is granted^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Additional classifications

Some categories of information, while possibly but not necessarily needing special access control, by their nature may require extra security education, special handling procedures, et cetera. These are known as caveats:

FOUO - For Official Use Only *
COMSEC - Communications Security *
CNWDI - Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information
NOFORN - Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals (access restricted to U.S. citizens) *
CRYPTO - Cryptographic *
WNINTEL - Warning Notice - Intelligence Sources and Methods Involved ^[3]

[edit] Obtaining clearances

Prior to being granted any clearances or accesses, a person is investigated by the Government. Depending on the level of clearance and access the person needs, the Government undertakes one of the following investigations:

LAC - Local Agency Check
ENTNAC - Entrance National Agency Check (typically for new military recruits)
MBI - Minimum Background Investigation (Typically reserved for public trust positions and/or when there is a break in federal service)
NAC - National Agency Check
NACLC (National Agency Check with Local Agency Check and Credit Check) *
SSBI - Single Scope Background Investigation *
SBPR - SSBI Periodic Reinvestigation
PPR - Phased Periodic Reinvestigation
SBI - Special Background Investigation
EBI - Extended Background Investigation

Certain accesses require one to undertake one or more polygraphs:

Polygraph - Counterintelligence Scope (CI, CI Poly)
Polygraph - Full Scope / Lifestyle (FSP, FS, LS, Lifestyle Poly)

An incomplete list of the more popular and possible sets of security clearances is below:

Confidential
Secret (Collateral)
Top Secret (Collateral)
Top Secret / Crypto
Top Secret / Crypto / SSIR (Secret Service Information Restricted) (jokingly referred to as "So Secret It's Ridiculous")
DOE - C, L, Q
FBI (equivalent to TS Collateral)
NATO Secret
Position of Public Trust
Yankee White
Top Secret/SCI

SCI clearances are granted only for those approved for Top Secret clearances. Additional common compartments:

Gamma (G), subcompartment of SI
HUMINT Control System (HCS), protects human intelligence

In general, employees do not publish the individual compartments for which they are cleared. While this information is not classified, specific compartment listings may reveal sensitive information when correlated with an individual's resume. Therefore, it is sufficient to declare that a candidate possesses a TS/SCI clearance with a polygraph.