Adapted from Wikipedia, which also offers related information not included below. View the complete Wikipedia version online at www.Wikipedia.com
Below are some security clearance terms that you may encounter in your career search and professional career.
Confidential
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 (National Agency Check with Local Agency Check and Credit) 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.
Secret
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. A Secret clearance requires a National Agency Check, A Local Agency Check, Credit investigation and must be reinvestigated every 10 years.
Top Secret
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.
A Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI) is a type of United States security clearance investigation required for Top Secret, Q, and SCI access, and involves agents contacting employers, coworkers and other individuals. Standard elements include background checks involving 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 a 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.
Minimum investigative scope: Past ten (10) years or to age 18, whichever is less.
Expansion of Investigation: The investigation may be expanded as necessary, to resolve issues and/or address employment standards unique to individual agencies.
National Agency Check: Checks on subject and spouse/cohabitant of investigative and criminal history files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including submission of fingerprint records on the subject, and such other national agencies (DCII, INS, OPM, CIA, etc.) as appropriate to the individual’s background.
Subject Interview: Required in all cases and shall be conducted by trained security, investigative, or counterintelligence personnel to ensure full investigative coverage. An additional personal interview shall be conducted when necessary to resolve any significant information and/or inconsistencies developed during the investigation. In departments or agencies with policies sanctioning the use of the polygraph for personnel security purposes, the personal interview may include a polygraph examination, conducted by a qualified polygraph examiner.
Birth: Independent certification of date and place of birth received directly from appropriate registration authority.
Citizenship: Subject must be a U.S. citizen. Independent verification of citizenship received directly from appropriate registration authority. For foreign-born immediate family members, verification of citizenship or legal status is also required.
Education: Independent verification of most recent or most significant claimed attendance and/or degree/diploma within the scope of investigation via sealed transcript received directly from the institution. If all education is outside of the investigative scope, the last education above high school level will be verified.
Employment: Direct verification through records of all periods of employment within scope but in any event the most recent two (2) years. Personal interviews of two sources (supervisor/coworkers) for each employment of six months or more shall be attempted. In the event that no employment exceeds six months, interviews of supervisor/coworkers shall be attempted. All periods of unemployment in excess of sixty (60) days shall be verified through records and/or sources. All prior federal/military service and type of discharges shall be verified.
References: Four required (at least three of which are developed). To the extent practical, all should have social knowledge of subject and collectively span the entire scope of the investigation. As appropriate, additional interviews may include cohabitant(s), ex-spouses, and relative(s). Interviews with psychological/medical personnel are to be accomplished as required to resolve issues.
Neighborhood: Interviews with neighbors for last five years if residence exceeds six months. Confirmation of current residence shall be accomplished regardless of length, including review of rental records if necessary. In the event no residence exceeds six months, interview of neighbors should be undertaken.
Credit: Verification of the subject’s financial status and credit habits of all locations where subject has resided, been employed, or attended school for six months or more for the last seven (7) years.
Local Agency Checks: A check of appropriate Police records covering all locations where subject has resided, been employed, or attended school for six months or more during the scope of investigation, including current residence regardless of duration. In the event that no residence, employment, or education exceeds six months, local agency checks should be performed.
Public Records: Verification of divorce(s), bankruptcy, etc., and any other court (civil or criminal) actions to which subject has been or is a party within the scope of investigation, when known or developed.
Transferability: Investigations satisfying the scope and standards specified above are transferable between agencies and shall be deemed to meet the investigative standards for access to collateral Top Secret/National Security Information and Sensitive Compartmented Information. No further investigation or reinvestigation prior to revalidation every five years will be undertaken unless the agency has substantial information indicating that the transferring individual may not satisfy eligibility standards for clearance or the agency head determines in writing that to accept the investigation would not be in the national security interest of the United States.
Notes: Immediate family — spouse, parents, brothers, sisters, children, and cohabitant of the individual requiring access.
Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI)
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 SSBI. SCI access, however, is assigned only in “compartments.” 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:
- Cryptography
- Overhead reconnaissance from aircraft, UAVs, or satellites IMINT (Imagery Intelligence)
- COMINT (Communications Intelligence), a subset of SIGINT (Signals Intelligence)
- Design or stockpile information about nuclear weapons
- Nuclear targeting
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”. This classification is reported to be a compartment within the “Special Intelligence” compartment of SCI. 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.
Jobs That Require A Security Clearance
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 clearance jobs are wide in range, including:
– Diplomats or Foreign Service Officers
– Military Personnel
– Information Technology
– Information Assurance
– Engineering
– Document Review
– Intelligence
– Logistics
– Linguistics
– Finance and Accounting
– Science and Mathematics
– Shipbuilding
– Aviation and Aerospace
– Various Business roles
– Contract Management/Administration
– Human Resources
– Administrative
– Sales and Marketing
– U.S. Special Operations Command
– Blue Collar roles
– U.S. Merchant Marine
– U.S. Transportation Security Administration
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. 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.
Requirements For A Security Clearance
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.