By: Mickey McCarter
Under an effort that began in 2007, the Interagency Security Committee is in the process of finalizing a set of six security guidelines as one comprehensive guidebook, said Bernard Holt, a security specialist in the Office of Infrastructure Protection at the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Speaking Tuesday at the GovSec security conference in Washington, DC, Holt described the evolution of security standards first contemplated after the destruction of the Murrah Building by domestic terrorists on April 19, 1995. A first report by the Department of Justice, produced within 60 days, recommended the establishment of the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) and 52 minimum security standards for roughly 300,000 federal facilities outside the US military.
The ISC, officially established by Executive Order 12977 on Oct. 19, 1995, drew together disparate agencies to collaborate and communicate on security needs. The order tasked agencies to “cooperate and comply with the policies and recommendations of the committee."
The Federal Protective Service (FPS), the security agency charged with putting guards in federal civilian facilities, also stood up that year at the General Services Administration. FPS joined DHS when it was created in 2003 and recently became part of NPPD. William Flynn, acting NPPD assistant secretary for infrastructure protection, currently serves as ISC chairman for a committee that consists of 21 primary agencies and 29 associated agencies. It currently has seven subcommittees and six working groups with a full-time staff of five federal employees and two contractors.
After its initial establishment, the ISC quickly set about establishing security policies and standards as well as ensuring compliance with them, Holt said. Improving and aligning those security standards became an even bigger priority after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In 2007, the ISC began producing new standards to formalize processes, determine risks, identify desired levels of facility protection, identify when those levels are not achievable, and develop alternative measures when necessary. Part of those standards involve accepting risks when necessary as part of a larger strategy of risk management, Holt said.
On Feb. 21, 2008, the ISC produced a foundation document, Facility Security Level Determinations for Federal Facilities, to define criteria and processes for federal facility security. On April 7, 2010, the ISC published the Physical Security Criteria for Federal Facilities, which brought together criteria for existing owned and leased buildings, as well as new construction.
In October 2011, the committee released, The Design Basis Threat, which provides specific details and responses to likely and unlikely emergencies at federal facilities. Also in 2011, the ISC built on an effort underway at the Department of Defense (DoD) Combating Terrorism Technology Support Office to issue best practices for mail screening and handling.
This year, the ISC produced guidelines for Facility Security Committees in January to establish procedures for federal facilities that house multiple tenants. These agencies now have rules for how to work together to form a facility security committee to deal with building security.
Soon, the ISC will publish the Interagency Security Committee Use of Physical Security Performance Measures, which spells out basic security measures available for use by federal facilities.
The ISC plans to consolidate the six documents to date as The Risk Management Process for Federal Facilities: An Interagency Security Committee Standard. The consolidated document will be easier for agencies to use, define overall criteria and processes for facility security, and serve as an integrated single source of physical security countermeasures, Holt said.
Moreover, the ISC plans to publish the Security Specialist Competencies Guideline, which stipulates core competencies and education and training requirements for federal security specialists, and Minimum Standards for Armed Security Officers in Federal Facilities, which sets baseline requirements for armed security officers in all federal civilian facilities, Holt announced.
Standards for armed security officers will address experience, education, training, equipment and physical requirements, as well as others, he added.
The committee also is working on publications to address workplace violence, (Violence in the Federal Workplace: A Guide for Prevention and Response), prohibited items, (Items Prohibited from Federal Facilities Document), and uniform minimum standards for mail screening in public and private-sector facilities, (Best Practices for Managing Mail Screening and Handling Processes: A Guide for the Public and Private Sectors), Holt said.
Additional future guidelines will include the Best Practices for Working with Lessors Document on collaboration with facility lessors to implement security measures. In addition, several new working groups will tackle lessons learned and best practices, and they will set up an information-sharing forum among ISC members and the Future of Federal Workplace Security Working Group, which will analyze the impacts of telecommuting from home and work centers on physical security and cybersecurity for federal facilities.
In response to questions from Homeland Security Today, Holt said the ISC has been in the process of producing and revising all of the specified standards since the revision effort began in 2007. The committee has long recognized the specific need for standards pertaining to armed security guards and facility security committees, Holt said, although the Government Accountability Office (GAO) raised concerns over unqualified armed guards and confusion among agencies in multi-tenant buildings for federal facility security in recent years.
Seventeen years after the bombing of the Alfred P.
Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, Okla., the interagency committee
charged with setting security standards for federal civilian facilities
is nearing completion of revised comprehensive standards to protect
those buildings.
Under an effort that began in 2007, the Interagency Security Committee is in the process of finalizing a set of six security guidelines as one comprehensive guidebook, said Bernard Holt, a security specialist in the Office of Infrastructure Protection at the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Speaking Tuesday at the GovSec security conference in Washington, DC, Holt described the evolution of security standards first contemplated after the destruction of the Murrah Building by domestic terrorists on April 19, 1995. A first report by the Department of Justice, produced within 60 days, recommended the establishment of the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) and 52 minimum security standards for roughly 300,000 federal facilities outside the US military.
The ISC, officially established by Executive Order 12977 on Oct. 19, 1995, drew together disparate agencies to collaborate and communicate on security needs. The order tasked agencies to “cooperate and comply with the policies and recommendations of the committee."
The Federal Protective Service (FPS), the security agency charged with putting guards in federal civilian facilities, also stood up that year at the General Services Administration. FPS joined DHS when it was created in 2003 and recently became part of NPPD. William Flynn, acting NPPD assistant secretary for infrastructure protection, currently serves as ISC chairman for a committee that consists of 21 primary agencies and 29 associated agencies. It currently has seven subcommittees and six working groups with a full-time staff of five federal employees and two contractors.
After its initial establishment, the ISC quickly set about establishing security policies and standards as well as ensuring compliance with them, Holt said. Improving and aligning those security standards became an even bigger priority after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In 2007, the ISC began producing new standards to formalize processes, determine risks, identify desired levels of facility protection, identify when those levels are not achievable, and develop alternative measures when necessary. Part of those standards involve accepting risks when necessary as part of a larger strategy of risk management, Holt said.
On Feb. 21, 2008, the ISC produced a foundation document, Facility Security Level Determinations for Federal Facilities, to define criteria and processes for federal facility security. On April 7, 2010, the ISC published the Physical Security Criteria for Federal Facilities, which brought together criteria for existing owned and leased buildings, as well as new construction.
In October 2011, the committee released, The Design Basis Threat, which provides specific details and responses to likely and unlikely emergencies at federal facilities. Also in 2011, the ISC built on an effort underway at the Department of Defense (DoD) Combating Terrorism Technology Support Office to issue best practices for mail screening and handling.
This year, the ISC produced guidelines for Facility Security Committees in January to establish procedures for federal facilities that house multiple tenants. These agencies now have rules for how to work together to form a facility security committee to deal with building security.
Soon, the ISC will publish the Interagency Security Committee Use of Physical Security Performance Measures, which spells out basic security measures available for use by federal facilities.
The ISC plans to consolidate the six documents to date as The Risk Management Process for Federal Facilities: An Interagency Security Committee Standard. The consolidated document will be easier for agencies to use, define overall criteria and processes for facility security, and serve as an integrated single source of physical security countermeasures, Holt said.
Moreover, the ISC plans to publish the Security Specialist Competencies Guideline, which stipulates core competencies and education and training requirements for federal security specialists, and Minimum Standards for Armed Security Officers in Federal Facilities, which sets baseline requirements for armed security officers in all federal civilian facilities, Holt announced.
Standards for armed security officers will address experience, education, training, equipment and physical requirements, as well as others, he added.
The committee also is working on publications to address workplace violence, (Violence in the Federal Workplace: A Guide for Prevention and Response), prohibited items, (Items Prohibited from Federal Facilities Document), and uniform minimum standards for mail screening in public and private-sector facilities, (Best Practices for Managing Mail Screening and Handling Processes: A Guide for the Public and Private Sectors), Holt said.
Additional future guidelines will include the Best Practices for Working with Lessors Document on collaboration with facility lessors to implement security measures. In addition, several new working groups will tackle lessons learned and best practices, and they will set up an information-sharing forum among ISC members and the Future of Federal Workplace Security Working Group, which will analyze the impacts of telecommuting from home and work centers on physical security and cybersecurity for federal facilities.
In response to questions from Homeland Security Today, Holt said the ISC has been in the process of producing and revising all of the specified standards since the revision effort began in 2007. The committee has long recognized the specific need for standards pertaining to armed security guards and facility security committees, Holt said, although the Government Accountability Office (GAO) raised concerns over unqualified armed guards and confusion among agencies in multi-tenant buildings for federal facility security in recent years.
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