How are U.S. Government Security Clearances levels determined and how are they measured?
According to the U. S. Government, security levels are measured by the amount of damage that would be caused to the U.S.A. if the information exposed were to be released to the public or to a foreign source. U.S. Government Security Clearances can be issued by many United Stated government agencies, including the Department of Defense and including all branches of the armed forces, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice and the Nationial Security Agency, and Central Intelligence Agency. Major Department of Defense clearances include Confidential, Secret, Top Secret, Top Secret with Single Scope Background Investigation (TS-SSBI) and Top Secret with Sensitive Compartmentalized Information (TS SCI). To have access to classified information, one must possess the necessary elements. First, one must have a level of U.S. Government Security Clearance, at least equal to the classification of the information, and, an appropriate “need to know” the information in order to perform
