Security Executive Blog

Acronyms BL Bill of Lading CAGE Commercial and Government Entity CIA Central Intelligence Agency CM Configuration Management COMSEC Communications Security CSA Cognizant Security Agency CSO Cognizant Security Office DAA Designated Accrediting/Approving Authority DGR Designated Government Representative DNI Director of National Intelligence DoD Department of Defense DoE Department of Energy DSS Defense Security Service EAA Export Administration Act FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation FCL Facility (Security) Clearance FGI Foreign Government Information FOCI Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence FSO Facility Security Officer GCA Government Contracting Activity GSA General Services Administration IS Information System ISOO Information Security Oversight Office ISSM Information System Security Manager ISSO Information System Security Officer ITAR International Traffic in Arms Regulations LAA Limited Access Authorization MFO Multiple Facility Organization NACLC ...

The facility clearance is required to be in place prior to the contractor performing on classified work. After the GCA or prime contractor submits the sponsorship letter, the company can begin the process of applying for the clearance. A contractor has to meet five requirements before it can be processed for an FCL. • Be Sponsored • Sign Department of Defense Security Agreement • Complete a Certificate Pertaining to Foreign Interests • Provide Organization Credentials • Identify Key Management Personnel clearances Sponsorship-A company cannot apply for a security clearance for business development purposes or to be more competitive. The security clearanc e process begins with a need which is supported by a legitimate U.S. Government or foreign government requirement and the classified contract will be offered to meet that need. Department of Defense Security Agreement (DD Form 441)-A security agreement is signed between the US Gover...

The Cleared Contractor appoints a Facility Security Officer (FSO) to protect the work on classified contracts and provide important administrative functions to maintain the security clearanc e of the business and cleared employees. However, the FSO can be much more impacting by applying understanding of four important functions: 1.  How to protect classified information as it relates to the cleared contract, organizational growth, enterprise goals, and NISPOM guidance 2.  How to conduct a risk analysis 3.  Demonstrate cost, benefits and impact of supporting a classified contract under the NISPOM requirements and sustain an environment of cooperation and compliance within the enterprise. 4.  Influence and compel the senior leaders to make good decisions, support compliance and integrate security into the corporate culture. After all, good industrial security practices protect against damage to national security, but cou...

1.  Influence at all levels-A key trait an FSO should demonstrate is the ability to work within organizational structures to gain executive, manager and work force cooperation. An FSO can train and write policy but without the enterprise’s full cooperation, will find it difficult to enforce. 2.  Integrate security at all levels-A well integrated security plan ensures that all business units within an enterprise notify the FSO of any change in disposition of cleared employees or classified contracts. This integrated system will trigger the contracts, program manager, business development and other units to coordinate with and keep the FSO informed of expired, current, and future contract opportunities and responsibilities. 3.  Be fiscally responsible-An important task that an FSO faces is the successful implementation of the security program while supporting the company’s primary mission; to make money while successfully performing on classified contracts. Security eff...

National Industrial Security Program (NISP) Enhancement Category 6 is: Classified Material Controls/Physical Security. DSS can quantify a cleared contractor’s ability to track classified information throughout its lifecycle, implement countermeasures to deny access to sensitive information, and provide accountability of all classified information through this process. The FSO’s ability to demonstrate such capability is impactful and can help DSS determine whether or not the cleared facility is going “above and beyond NISPOM requirements.  Below are three ways an FSO can demonstrate going above and beyond the NISPOM requirements: 1.  Track location and disposition of classified information-This can be done on the cheap or with a decent Information Management System (IMS) such as software provided by vendors like SIMSSoftware . The point is for the FSO to not only know what they know about classified information moving within and without of the cleared facility, but to also de...

Category 5 of the NISP Enhancement Program is titled: Self Inspection. Here, a cleared contractor's FSO documents a self inspection as part of a continuous security program evaluation. This is simply a health check of the established security program designed to safeguard classified information. The Defense Security Services (DSS) recommends that the cleared contractor’s Facility Security Officer (FSO) share the inspection results with their industrial security representative to keep communication open as well as address any issues that might be resolved prior to the scheduled DSS annual review. The self inspection should be designed to evaluate all National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual ( NISPOM ) areas the cleared contractor operates under. At a minimum, each facility should inspect its compliance with NISPOM Chapters 1-5 and parts of Chapter 6. These chapters cover general security, personnel and facility clearances, FSO roles and responsibilities, required tra...

Category 1 of the NISP enhancement involves company sponsored events. This is an opportunity that the FSO can use to demonstrate above and beyond adherence to NISPOM Chapter 3. Some of the suggested ideas include: ·          Security fairs-Security fairs are great ways to demonstrate the added value security provides to the cleared defense contractors. The FSO can set up designated booths that functions to provide security solution and awareness. For some examples include: ·          Document wrapping booth to demonstrate how to properly mark and wrap classified packages. You can take the opportunity to brief courier and other classified transport opportunities. ·          Fingerprint booth-As FSO I ordered children’s finger print cards. When we had a company picnic, I invited all the parents to come by to get their children fingerprinted. I then turned the completed...

Defense Security Services are training their agents to apply the new Security Rating Calculation tool. This tool is used to standardize and is based on a numerical scale that allows graded results while accounting for a cleared facility’s involvement in the National Industrial Security Program. However DSS is training their agents to ensure they understand the process before implementing it. This provides a great opportunity for cleared contractors and FSOs to prepare for the changes to come. One of the most prominent features is the addition of a method to grade the ability of a cleared contractor to go above and beyond National Industrial Security Operating Manual ( NISPOM ) requirements. At one time the ability to go above and beyond seemed objective, requiring the FSO to demonstrate how they went above and beyond during the review or other interaction with DSS. Now, DSS has included a proactive measurement called the NISP Enhancement. According to the DSS website, “…directly relat...