NARA’s Information Security Oversight Office Releases 32nd Annual Report to the President

From the News Release:

The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) today released its Report to the President for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. The Report is available online.
ISOO noted several positive developments:

• The number of persons granted original classification authority is at its lowest recorded level, standing at 2,362.
• Agencies reported a 43 percent reduction in original classification activity.
• Agencies also reported to ISOO that they assigned a classification duration of ten years or less in 70 percent of their original classification decisions.
• Reviews of agency declassification programs show continuous improvement since these programs started in FY 2008. In FY 2011, 13 of the 15 agencies assessed received a score of 90 or above, and no agencies received a failing grade. Since FY 2008, the average score has increased by over 21 percent and the number of agencies receiving scores of 90 or above has increased 125 percent.

The report highlights two new efforts:

• Following the widely publicized WikiLeaks episode, ISOO partnered with the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive to assist agencies in reviewing policies and procedures for safeguarding classified national security information against unauthorized disclosure. ISOO now participates in government-wide oversight processes established under Executive Order 13587, “Structural Reforms to Improve the Security of Classified Networks and the Responsible Sharing and Safeguarding of Classified Information.”

• The first executive branch-wide Fundamental Classification Guidance Review was launched in FY 2011. It will conclude at the end of June 2012

Additional highlights including numbers about classification/declassification are included in the news release.
Direct to Full Text: Report to the President for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 (32 pages; PDF)
Information Security Oversight Office, National Archives and Records Administration
See Also: Archive of Previous Reports

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, News, Reports