This list covers security clearance terms used in the United States of America.
Within the U.S. government, security clearance levels serve as a mechanism to ascertain which individuals are authorized to access sensitive or classified information.
Security clearances can be issued by many United States of America government agencies.
Employers generally prefer to hire people who are already cleared to access classified information at the level needed for a given job or contract, because security clearances can take up to a year to obtain.
In general, most employers look for candidates who hold an active Department of Defense (DoD) collateral clearance or a blanket TS/SCI-cleared (Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information) and who have a counterintelligence (CI), full-scope polygraph (FSP), also known as expanded scope screening (ESS).
In order to gain SCI Access, one would need to have a Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI).
[citation needed] Certain accesses require persons to undertake one or more polygraph tests: Sensitive compartmented information (SCI) is a type of classified information controlled through formal systems established by the Director of National Intelligence.
Access to individual SCI control systems, compartments, and subcompartments may then be granted by the owner of that information.
[citation needed] In general, military personnel and civilian employees (government and contractor) do not publish the individual compartments for which they are cleared.