I Am The Walrus

20 July 2009 by Revelator.

Way back in 1978 I started the process for my Department of Defense security clearance. I’ve had this thing for long about 32 years now so I’m fairly versed in how we handle, store, transmit, disseminate, and otherwise protect classified information. But I must say that as an 18 year-old waiting on my clearance I was pretty damn naive.

I actually thought that once I got my clearance I would be able to see all the Top Secret information the government had on file. I was pumped! I was finally gonna get the answers to some of the nagging questions that my government wouldn’t share with those so unfortunate as to not be cleared.

Here is my list of things I wanted to know:

Who really killed Kennedy?
Did we land on the moon or was that all filmed in a soundstage in Burbank?
What is really going on in Area 51?
Is Elvis still alive?
Is there really a Hanger 18 and/or a Project Bluebook?
Is there actually a government warehouse for freaky secret stuff? And if so, is the Arc of The Covenant there?
Just who/what the hell is/are the Illuminati?
Are we alone?
Who are the “Nine Unknown Men?”
Did Jesus have a wife?
Do the Greys really exist - and if they are running the world shouldn’t they be doing a better job of it?
Is Paul McCartney dead?
What the hell is going on in the Bermuda Triangle - and if it’s so jacked up there why do boats and planes still go there?
Where is Sasquatch and why do we never see more than one at a time?
Was that really a weather balloon in Roswell?
What’s up with Stonehenge?
Is Yoko Ono the Antichrist?
And what about the Nazca Lines in Peru? Is this “Chariots of the Gods” stuff true?

As you may know, or certainly must have guessed, I didn’t find the answers I was seeking once I got my clearance. Well, that’s not entirely true…I have been to Area 51 (didn’t see one stinking alien) and it looks like Paul is alive and well and I’m pretty sure Yoko Ono is not the Antichrist though I have no evidence to back that up either way. But the fact remains that once I got my clearance there was very little classified information that the government would let me get my hands on.

For those of you who have never had a clearance you may be asking why this is; three simple words - Need To Know. I didn’t have the Need to Know any of the information I was seeking (if it even exists - which I doubt).

Most of us understand and properly use Need to Know when dealing with classified information but I ask you now - how are you with unclassified information? Do you still apply Need to Know principles when someone asks you for unclassified sensitive or critical information? If someone you work with were to ask you to let them read a “For Official Use Only” document would you give it to them without much thought?

Sadly, most of us would. I mean, it’s unclassified for Heavens sake. If it was worthy of protection someone would have made it classified wouldn’t they? And therein lies our problem. A good number of us don’t really think anything unclassified requires any type of protection. Well, if that were true may I be so bold as to suggest that we don’t need OPSEC.

If we’re not going to bother seeing “For Official Use Only” or “Sensitive But Unclassified” or “Unclassified Controlled Nuclear Information” or “Law Enforcement Sensitive” or “Sensitive Homeland Security Information” or “Administratively Controlled Information” or “Security Sensitive Information” or “Critical Infrastructure Information” or “Personally Identifiable Information” or “Controlled Unclassified Information” as information requiring protection then why bother with any of these identifiers?

Back to the point: Need to Know needs to be applied to unclassified sensitive information (in all its forms) in the same way we apply it to classified information. If coworkers Bob or Janet want to see that “For Official Use Only” document then you need to verify that they have a Need to Know the information - that they need this information to do their job. And if you can’t verify that then you can’t let Bob or Janet see the information.

Pretty simple really.

And I hate to be the one to break this to you but yeah…Elvis is dead. Sorry man.

Keep the Faith!
Revelator

“I Am The Walrus” - The Beatles

Posted in Critical Information, General OPSEC | Print | No Comments »