Security clearances can be issued by many United States of America government agencies, including but not limited to the
Department of Defense (DoD), the
Department of State (DOS), 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). DoD issues more than 80% of all clearances. There are three levels of DoD security clearances: • TOP SECRET – Information of which the unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security. • SECRET – Information of which the unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to the national security. • CONFIDENTIAL – Information of which the unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause damage to the national security. Additionally, the
United States Department of Energy issues two levels of security clearances: •
Q Clearance – Allows access to
Classified information up to and including TOP SECRET data with the special designation:
Restricted Data (TS//RD) and special Q-Cleared "security" areas. •
L Clearance – Allows access to Classified information up to and including SECRET data with the special designation:
Formerly Restricted Data (S//FRD) and special L-Cleared "limited" areas.
Classification subsets: Sensitive Compartmented Information and Special Access Programs Information "above Top Secret," a phrase used by the media, means either
Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) or
Special Access Program (SAP). It is not truly "above" Top Secret, since there is no 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 words. This is one means by which the "need to know" principle is formally and automatically enforced. In order to have access to material in a particular SCI "compartment", the person must first have the clearance level for the material. The SCI designation is an add-on, not a special clearance level. Someone cleared at the SECRET level for some compartment X cannot see material in compartment X that is classified TOP SECRET. But the opposite is true: a person cleared for TOP SECRET with access to X material can also access SECRET material in compartment X. Compartments have designators which uniquely identify that compartment. These designators may also be classified, even protected under another SCI compartment. 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, 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.
Additional Designations 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 given 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 SCI and SAPs in which access is determined by need-to-know. These accesses require increased investigative requirements before access is granted.{{Cite web|date=August 2024|publisher=Center for Development of Security Excellence (CDSE) == Investigations ==