Scott agency keeps information secure Published Aug. 18, 2010 By Bekah Clark 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- The Information Protection Office sounds pretty self-explanatory; it's an office that protects information. But that definition far oversimplifies the vital role this office fills. Two years ago the IP function fell under the security forces umbrella, but in December 2008, the Air Force security forces functional area divested itself of information, industrial and personnel security programs. The manpower associated with these programs shifted to create the IP structure that is now aligned under the administrative assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force at the air staff level and under the vice commander at the major command and wing levels. This new structures allows the IP office to serve as "a single point of contact for the wing commander and vice commander to go to for IP issues," according to Scott Michael, Information Protection chief. "In the past, information was stove piped and duplicate work was taking place attempting to achieve the same thing," said Mr. Michael. "The move of our office to the wing and designating one go-to individual for all information protection matters has streamlined the flow of information." Mr. Michael says the goal of the IP office is "to prevent the compromise, loss, unauthorized access/disclosure, destruction, distortion or non-accessibility of information, regardless of physical form or characteristics, over the life cycle of the information." These efforts include actions to regulate access to sensitive information, controlled unclassified information and classified information produced by, entrusted to or under the control of the United States government. The office's responsibilities are divided into three functions: personnel security, information security and industrial security. Personnel security handles the initiation of all the investigation requests for all security clearances and positions of trust. This function also ensures that individuals receive the due process they deserve by informing unit commanders with the nature of derogatory information uncovered during an investigation. Information security deals with the establishment of policy for the protection of classified, controlled unclassified and For Official Use Only information, using security education programs, security manager meetings and training, and information security program reviews of various organizations. Finally, industrial security establishes long term visit groups agreements with contractors who need to access classified information and also conducts program reviews on units hosting classified contracts on behalf of the installation commander. To make sure each of these areas is fulfilled, the IP team provides training to all security managers, teaching them how to manage the program and the rules regarding the program. The IP team also performs annual program reviews where they use a checklist to evaluate and verify that a security program is being managed correctly. During these reviews, the IP team ensures that security managers are educating a unit's members, they keep classified information secured properly, they request security clearances on their members at the right time and they're conducting self-inspections as required. The team conducts other security checks as well. Currently, Mr. Michael and Kathy Lanter make up the office, with Mr. Michael handling information and industrial security functions and Ms. Lanter handling the personnel security function. The office intends to hire an additional staff member this year, with plans to expand to a total of five in the future.