Create and manage security classification guides

Security classification guides (SCG) are available only in DoD Classified data models. Users with Original Classification Authority can delegate the authority to classify information by creating guidelines to be used by authorized derivative classifiers. Only users assigned to the Classification Guide Administrator security role can create or modify security classification guides. For information about the Classification Guide Administrator and other security roles, see IBM InfoSphere Enterprise Records security roles.

From the Security Classification Guides page, you can do any of the following:

To display the Security Classification Guides page, select the Configure tab and select Security Classification Guides.

Create a security classification guide

To create a new security classification guide

  1. From the Security Classification Guides page, click Add Classification Guide.
  2. In the Set Properties step, enter the following and click Next.

    The only required property is Guide Name.

  3. In the Set Security step, modify the access rights of existing groups as needed, and click Finish.
  4. Add security classification guide topics and sections, as needed. For details about adding topics and sections, see Modify a security classification guide.

Modify a security classification guide

A security classification guide (SCG) serves as a placeholder and framework where you add or modify sections and topics. You can also delete sections or topics. Deleting an SCG removes all sections and topics.

Sections are essentially folders that hold topics. Sections contain the same properties as topics.

The official Department of Defense guideline for authors of SCGs does not specify a format. Because there are a great number of SCGs authored by different writers, each SCG differs in format, approach, and specificity. For example, depending on the SCG, the value for an SCG topic or section could be:

To add or modify a section or topic

  1. From the Security Classification Guides page, click the name of the security classification guide where you want to add or modify the section or topic.
  2. To add a section or topic, click Add Guide Section or Add Guide Topic.
  3. To modify an existing section or topic, click the Get Info icon: get info icon
  4. Enter or modify the value for Code. This is the only required field.
  5. Enter or modify the value for Topic.

    NOTE  The Code and Topic values must conform to folder naming conventions.

  6. Specify or change the Initial Classification by selecting a value from the drop-down menu.
  7. Click Reasons for Classification. IBM InfoSphere Enterprise Records opens the Select Values page where you can add and remove Reasons for Classification for this section or topic.
    1. To add a Reason for Classification, click Add New Value and select either Active for new records, or Deprecated for legacy records.
    2. Select a reason from the list of choices and click Accept.
    3. Continue adding as many reasons as required. For information about adding more reasons that the user can select, see Choice lists.
    4. To remove a reason, highlight the reason and click the Remove Selected Items icon: remove selected items icon
    5. When you are finished with your selections, click Accept.
  8. To enter a value for the Declassify On Date item, click on the calendar icon. For records that use this SCG item, IBM InfoSphere Enterprise Records populates the Declassify On Date field with the value you enter here.
  9. To add or remove events for declassification, click Declassify On Events.
    1. To add a value, enter a text string in the Enter Value field, and click the Add Item icon: add item icon
    2. To remove a value, select a value from the Current Values list, and click the Remove Selected Items icon: remove selected items icon
    3. When you are finished, click Accept.
  10. To add or remove exemptions, click Exemptions.
    1. To add an exemption, click Add New Value and select either Active for new records, or Deprecated for legacy records.
    2. Select a value from the choice list and click Accept.
    3. Continue adding as many values as needed. For information about adding more choices that the user can select, see Choice lists.
    4. To remove an exemption, highlight the value and click the Remove Selected Items icon: remove selected items icon
    5. When you are finished with your selections, click Accept.
  11. Enter any desired remarks in the text box.
  12. To add or remove a supplemental marking, click Supplemental Marking.
    1. To add a supplemental marking, select a value from the Available Values list and click the right arrow.
    2. To remove a supplemental marking, select a value from the Current Values list, and click the left arrow.

      NOTE Clicking the right double arrow adds all supplemental markings, and clicking the left double arrow removes all supplemental markings.

    3. When you are finished with your selections, click Accept and Finish.

If a user selects a section or topic during the classification step in the Record Declaration Wizard, IBM InfoSphere Enterprise Records populates the Derived From field with the name of the SCG, the issue date of the SCG, and the originator of the SCG.

The IBM InfoSphere Enterprise Records installation process creates the supplemental marking set on the Content Engine. For more information about supplemental markings, see Supplemental Marking.

Delete a security classification guide

After you delete an SCG, it is no longer available for selection in the Derived From field when declaring a classified record. However, all classified records that use a security classification guide before it is deleted still show the deleted classification guide in the Derived From field, and all values derived from the deleted classification guide remain in the corresponding fields of a classified record's properties, such as Declassify On Events, Exemptions, Reasons For Classification, and Initial Classification.

Choice lists

When you specify values for Reasons for Classification or Exemptions in either a guide topic or section, you can choose from either Active or Deprecated lists. When IBM InfoSphere Enterprise Records is initially installed, Active choice lists are installed and available for selection. Generally, an administrator, by Executive order or other authorized means, adds the Deprecated choice lists to make them available for selection at a later date.

To add an item to a choice list

  1. Log on to Enterprise Manager (EM) as an Administrator.
  2. On the file plan object store where the security classification guide is located, browse to and open the Choice Lists folder.
  3. In the right pane, right-click either the Reasons for Classifications or Exemptions property.
  4. Click Properties.
  5. Click the Choice Items tab.
  6. Select either Active or Deprecated, and click Add Item.
  7. In the Display Name field, enter a value as you want it displayed in IBM InfoSphere Enterprise Records (for example, 1.1).
  8. In the Value field, enter a description of the item (for example, Foreign Government Information).
  9. Click Add.
  10. Repeat Steps 7 through 9 for each item you want to add, and click OK to return to the Choice Items tab.

To modify a choice list

  1. Navigate to the Choice Items tab, as described in the procedure above.
  2. In the Choice Items tab, do any of the following:

NOTE  To deprecate an entire Active choice list, you must first manually add each item to the Deprecated choice list, as described in Steps 7 through 10 above, and then remove each item from the Active choice list.