Security Executive Blog

The Opportunity If employed by a defense contractor, chances are that you perform work on goods and services for research and development of a weapon system or other new capabilities. That being the case the DEFAULT focus as a Facility Security Officer (FSO) or security specialist is on technical data. The problem is: while there is abundant guidance on protection of classified information (proscriptive regulation aka NISPOM) bridging the GAP between classified and sensitive, protecting unclassified is of utmost concern. Here is where FSOs can really provide value to the enterprise. The Problem Take a look at this paraphrase from Allen Dulles' book The Craft of Intelligence: In the 1950's the US Congress was concerned that there was just too much technical information available on government programs.  From that concern, they commissioned researchers to assemble as much information from public domain about a particular program as they could. The group scour...

Cleared contractor facility security officers (FSO) and security specialists have a unique challenge. They protect classified information and have lots of guidance on how to do so. However, they also have to figure out how to best protect sensitive information based on competitive budget requirements. Some of the forces acting on the budget include NISPOM , ITAR and other regulatory requirements as well as actions required by a thorough risk assessment The NISPOM is a proscriptive policy, meaning that FSOs and security specialists have a list of “to do” countermeasures to protect Government identified classified contract information . For example, a secret document should be stored in a GSA approved security container. Other solutions that appear proscribed are standard practices. Some industry standards include access control, alarms and CCTV. One might think they were required based on the general acceptance and wide use. For example, the NISPOM states that SECRET should b...

Olympic competition is just another step in the journey of a world class athlete. The competitors didn’t just wake up and perform spectacular feats; they incorporate winning performance into their daily rituals. They won a seat on the team because of conditioning, determination and dedication. If an athlete breaks records or fails to qualify, the success or failure isn’t the onetime performance. They didn’t just wake up as champions, they prepared. Leaders are successful for the same reason. Consider the following questions about leaders: What makes them successful? Why are ideas they present more contagious than mine? How are they able to influence major decision makers? Successful Facility Security Officers (FSO) and other security executives are no different. Just as a world class athlete performs to win; the FSO demonstrates world class security programs designed to protect classified information. These champions impact organizational policy, generate buy in at all levels...