List of U.S. security clearance terms

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The following list of terms is used to indicate type, level, or scope of security clearance and background investigation in the United States.

Security clearance descriptors often appear in employment advertisements, as employers generally prefer to hire people who are already cleared to access classified information at the level needed for a particular job or contract.

Due to the nature of security classifications and clearances, often people incorrectly identify their clearances by a combination of actual clearance level, additional access controls, caveats, and the organization who granted them clearance. In addition, different organizations within the Federal government use different terminology and lettering, as is discussed below.

Some items on are based on a list compiled by a nonauthoritative source on the Internet. Items marked "*" are defined in the 2006 U.S. Government's National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) p. 14 ff [1] Any combination of the SI, SI-ECI-*, TK, B, G, HCS letters can be used.

Information is classified at 3 levels. For general access to this information, the Cognizant Security Authority ( Generally, the DoD), grants collateral clearances at the level:

• C - Confidential *
• S - Secret *
• TS - Top Secret (DoE has the Q clearance which is equivalent) *

On top of classification, the Government also has special access control systems for certain information, in which access is determined by need-to-know, and which may have increased investigative requirements before access is granted:

• SAP - Special Access Program *
• SCI - Sensitive Compartmented Information *
• SI - Signals Intelligence
• SIOP - Single Integrated Operational Plan
• ESI - Extremely Sensitive Information
• TK - Talent Keyhole
• G
• HCS

Some catagories of information, while possibly but not necessarily needing special access control, by their nature may require extra security education, special handling procedures, et cetera. These are known as caveats:

• COMSEC - Communications Security *
• CNWDI - Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information *
• NOFORN - Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals (access restricted to U.S. citizens) *
• WNINTEL - Warning Notice - Intelligence Sources and Methods Involved [2]
• CRYPTO - Cryptographic *

Prior to being granted any clearances or accesses, A person is investigated by the Government. Depending on the level of clearance and access the person needs, the Government undertakes one of the following investigations:

• LAC - Local Agency Check
• NAC - National Agency Check
• NACLC (National Agency Check with Local Agency Check and Credit Check) *
• SSBI - Single Scope Background Investigation *
• SBPR - SSBI Periodic Reinvestigation
• SBI - Special Background Investigation
• EBI - Extended Background Investigation

Certain accesses require one to undertake one ore more polygraphs:

• Polygraph - Counterintelligence Scope (CI, CI Poly)
• Polygraph - Full Scope / Lifestyle (FS, LS, Lifestyle Poly)

An incomplete list of the more popular and possible sets of security clearances is below:

• 1C or 2C - Federal
• 3C or 4C - Federal
• 5C or 6C - Federal
• ADP 1
• ADP 2
• CIA Lifestyle Polygraph
• COMSEC
• CONFIDENTIAL
• Cosmic Top Secret - ATOMAL/CTSA
• DEA Clearance
• DISA
• DISCO
• DOD
• DOD Lifestyle Polygraph
• DOD Secret
• DOD - Top Secret SSBI
• DOE - Nuclear
• DOE - C
• DOE - L
• DOE - Q
• DOJ - NACI
• DOJ - Sensitive
• DOJ - Secret
• DOJ - Top Secret
• EBI - Extended Background Investigation
• FAA Clearance
• FBI
• Foreign Government Information
• Industrial Clearance
• Inactive Clearance
• Inactive Top Secret Crypto
• Interim Secret
• Interim Top Secret
• Interim TS / SCI
• IRS - MBI
• ISSA / CISSP
• MBI (IRS)
• NAC
• NASA
• NATO
• NATO Secret
• NSA Lifestyle Polygraph
• Position of Public Trust 1C
• Position of Public Trust 2C
• Position of Public Trust 3C
• Position of Public Trust 4C
• Position of Public Trust 5C
• Position of Public Trust 6C
• Polygraph - Counterintelligence
• Polygraph - Full Scope / Lifestyle
• SAR
• S - Secret
• Secret COMSEC
• Secret SBI
• SIDA - Secured Identification Defense Area
• SAP - Special Access Programs
• SBI - Special Background Investigation
• SCI - Special Compartmented Intelligence
• SSBI - Single Scope Background Inv.
• Technology
• TS - Top Secret
• Top Secret-Crypto
• Top Secret-Crypto SCI / TK / G / HCS-P
• Top Secret-Final / Crypto / Polygraph
• Top Secret-SCI / SBI
• Top Secret-SCI / HSC
• Top Secret-SCI / SI / TK
• Top Secret-SCI / SI / TK / G / B
• Top Secret-SCI / SI / TK / G / HCS
• Top Secret-SCI / SIOP
• Top Secret-SCI / SSBI
• Top Secret-SBI-TS/SBI
• Top Secret-CISP-TS/CISP
• Top Secret-ISSA-TS/ISSA
• Top Secret-SAP-TS/SAP
• Top Secret-SCI-CI polygraph-TS/SCI/CI Poly
• Top Secret-SCI-Full/Scope Lifestyle-TS/SCI Lifestyle Poly
• Top Secret-SCI-TS/SCI
• Top Secret-SSBI-TS/SSBI
• Top Secret-SCI /SSBI / SI / TK
• Top Secret-SCI / TK / G / HCS / CI Poly
• Top Secret-SCI / TK / G / Lifestyle Poly
• Top Secret-SCI / SSBI / CI Poly
• Top Secret-SI / TK / B / +
• Top Secret-SSBI / CI Poly
• Top Secret-SSBI / SCI / TK / G / HCS
• Top Secret-SSBI / Lifestyle Poly
• Top Secret-SSBI / SCI
• Top Secret-SSBI / SCI/ SI / TK / G
• Top Secret-SSBI / SCI / SI / TK / G / B / HCS
• Top Secret-SSBI / SCI / TK / HCS
• Top Secret-SSBI / SCI-B
• Top Secret-EBI
• Top Secret-SCI - SI / TK / G / HCS / I / P
• Top Secret-CISP - TS / CISP
• Top Secret-ISSA - TS / ISSA
• Top Secret-SAP - TS / SAP
• Top Secret-SCI - CI Poly - TS / SCI / CI Poly
• Top Secret-SCI - Full / Scope Lifestyle - TS / SCI Lifestyle
• Top Secret-SCI - TS / SCI
• Top Secret-SSBI - SCI / TK / B / HCS / CI - Poly
• Top Secret-SSBI - TS / SSBI
• US Citizen
• US Customs
• US Treasury Clearance
• USPS
• VR
• Yankee Fire
• Yankee White