Leveraging the Federal Public Trust Clearance Model in State Government Personnel Security Programs

Security clearances are a requirement when working with classified information at the federal level. In recent years, incidents involving unauthorized disclosures of highly sensitive classified information have brought the security clearance adjudication process under scrutiny. These incidents have reinforced the principle that a personnel security program that properly vets individuals is critical to any organization that wishes to protect its data. Although the effects of an incident at the state level may be narrower in scope than at the federal level, the need to safeguard sensitive information is the same. The national security clearance model is used at many state agencies that work with the Department of Defense and other federal entities. However, an agency that does not access national security data still has a responsibility to uphold public trust. For these organizations, the background check processes can vary greatly from state to state or even between agencies.An effective personnel security program is much more than simply granting access to protected information through a public trust clearance. To achieve the assurance implied with a clearance, other components must be included. While a direct implementation of the federal model may not be feasible, using just a few concepts to design a system tailored to the state level would significantly improve the security posture of the issuing agency.