FSO Personnel Security & Clearances 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), which agency has primary authority to grant security clearances to contractor personnel?
- The Department of State
- The contractor's Facility Security Officer
- The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) (Correct answer)
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Correct answer: The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA)
DCSA (formerly DSS) serves as the Cognizant Security Agency (CSA) for the DoD and administers the NISP, including granting and revoking clearances for contractor personnel.
Question 2: What is a Facility Clearance (FCL)?
- An individual employee's security clearance at a cleared facility
- An administrative determination that a contractor organization is eligible to access classified information (Correct answer)
- A physical security certification for a contractor's building
- A temporary permit to store classified materials on-site
Correct answer: An administrative determination that a contractor organization is eligible to access classified information
An FCL is an administrative determination by the CSA that a contractor entity and its key management personnel are eligible to access classified information at a specified level.
Question 3: What do the '13 Adjudicative Guidelines' represent in the personnel security process?
- Thirteen rules for the physical protection of classified documents
- Thirteen criteria used to evaluate potential loyalty, trustworthiness, and reliability risks when making clearance eligibility determinations (Correct answer)
- Thirteen steps in the security clearance application process
- Thirteen categories of classified information requiring special handling
Correct answer: Thirteen criteria used to evaluate potential loyalty, trustworthiness, and reliability risks when making clearance eligibility determinations
The 13 adjudicative guidelines from Security Executive Agent Directive 4 (SEAD 4) are the criteria adjudicators use to assess an applicant's eligibility for a security clearance.
Question 4: What is 'Continuous Evaluation' (CE) in the context of personnel security?
- A program requiring daily security briefings for all cleared employees
- Ongoing automated record checks of cleared individuals between periodic reinvestigations (Correct answer)
- Continuous monitoring of classified computer networks for insider threats
- Regular in-person interviews of cleared employees by security officers
Correct answer: Ongoing automated record checks of cleared individuals between periodic reinvestigations
Continuous Evaluation involves automated checks of financial, criminal, and other records on an ongoing basis to identify potential security concerns between formal periodic reinvestigations.
Question 5: What must a cleared employee do upon being arrested or charged with a criminal offense?
- Wait until the investigation is complete before taking any action
- Report the arrest only if it results in a conviction
- Self-report to their FSO as soon as possible regardless of the severity of the charge (Correct answer)
- Report only if the charge is a felony-level offense
Correct answer: Self-report to their FSO as soon as possible regardless of the severity of the charge
Cleared employees are required to self-report adverse information, including arrests or criminal charges, to their FSO promptly so eligibility can be reassessed.
Question 6: In a subcontract situation under the NISP, what does a 'Visited Contractor' (VC) arrangement mean?
- A cleared contractor visits a government site to provide security consulting
- A cleared subcontractor performs classified work at the prime contractor's cleared facility (Correct answer)
- An uncleared contractor is escorted through a classified area by a cleared employee
- A cleared contractor temporarily loans employees to another contractor
Correct answer: A cleared subcontractor performs classified work at the prime contractor's cleared facility
A Visited Contractor relationship occurs when a cleared subcontractor performs classified work at the prime contractor's facility, requiring coordination between both parties and notification to DCSA.
Question 7: What is a DD Form 254 used for in the NISP?
- Reporting a security violation to DCSA
- Providing security classification guidance to a contractor on a classified contract (Correct answer)
- Applying for a facility security clearance
- Recording the results of a personnel security investigation
Correct answer: Providing security classification guidance to a contractor on a classified contract
The DD Form 254 (Contract Security Classification Specification) conveys security requirements and classification guidance from the government to a contractor for a specific classified contract.
FSO Personnel Security & Clearances 2
Under the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), which agency has primary authority to grant security clearances to contractor personnel?