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In the circles of government, information is either commonly called open source or closed source. In other words, information is either unclassified or classified. Open source information is basically defined as anything anyone in the public can read or know. This information may originate from sources such as press releases and required public reporting from government agencies. It can be original information published in books, professional trade journals, and newspapers. Opposingly, closed source information is classified information shared only among those government officals and other persons holding a certain level of security clearance and also typically having the need to know it.
If information is classified, by its legal definition, it then falls under three main categories: Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret. An example of information classified as Confidential might be the home address and telephone number of a government official. Sometimes very unusual and normally benign stuff becomes classified during a time of overt war like in Iraq, or during covert in-theater activity, like some of the Special Operations field trips across sovereign borders. While in-theater, an army cook's recipe sheet for meals could become classified as Confidential or Secret. The justification for classifying such a normally benign thing could be the fear of the enemy discovering or deducing the local in-theater vendor for produce. This information would then become a point of high vulnerability to the force should the enemy poison the milk, for example.
In addition, access to documents and information (usually Secret and above) can be then further limited by specially compartmentalizing it. An official communique' from a U.S. embassy to agencies in the U.S. government may only be classified as Secret, but then be tagged with what we used to call NoFo status, meaning No Foreign Dissemination.
As you can imagine, the highest security classification for information is Top Secret. Specially Compartmented Information (SCI) is usually first classified as Top Secret. Then, the information is tagged with a unique code word, compartmentalizing it. The logic behind this information security system is the principle of need to know. Although you may have already heard the term 'need to know' in a movie or have read it in a book, it is the actual logic behind, and terminology used, in government and the military in regards to classifying information.
Tagging documents and other information with a specific SCI code word limits the access to that information to only those people who have the need to know the information or activity, or have been "read on" (past tense) to see it. Here's an example using code words Kermit, Bert & Ernie:
Scientist Kermit has a Top Secret security clearance and is researching the tactical feasibility of a directed electro magnetic pulse weapon deployed from satellite platforms. Army General Bert also has a Top Secret security clearance and is talking with an Iranian dissident with knowledge of the logistical support needed for the underground railroad of suicide bombers entering Iraq. U.S. Senator Ernie also has a Top Secret security clearance and sits on the appropriations committees for Science and Technology and Armed Services.
In this example, although Scientist Kermit and Army General Bert have both gone through the arduous process of investigation by federal and military investigative agencies to hold (or renew) their top secret security clearance, neither person really has a need to know each other's business, so they do not have access to one another's work. On the other hand, Senator Ernie likely has the need to know both the Scientist's and Army General's work, so he is "read on" (past tense) to have access to the information tagged with all the SCI code words Kermit, Bert and Ernie.
When General Bert retires, or Senator Ernie is not re-elected, those people are then debriefed, or "read off" (past tense). Unless the defense department or goverment has radically changed its policies since Bush and his cronies have stumbled into offices of power, neither Bert nor Ernie can divulge any of the classified information to which they previously had access during their service to the country, let alone while they held their jobs.
Information Security (infosec) and Operational Security (opsec) are both like a locked door guarding a roomful of classified dominoes. Classifying information into one of the three confidential, secret or top secret categories is a process which is bound by specific legal definitions that evaluates the possible harm to United States should the security of that information be compromised. Inappropriately, accidently, or purposefully disclosing classified information has grave legal and criminal consequences. At mininum, disclosures or leaks cause a huge clean-up or sanitizing operation for all the information that has suddenly become falling dominoes in a room whose size is sometimes not even knowable. During a time of war, disclosure or leaks of classified information can even be prosecuted as treason, and as such, death can be the penalty.
I'll follow this up with some personal anecdotes. I didn't want to break the dreaded attention-span barrier again, like I did with the Mullahs with Nukes and On Life and Death entries recently.
[Headphones] :: Jessica: Pleasure Club Mix - JfZ
