On June 3, 2020, ISOO issued CUI Notice 2020-02, Alternative Marking Methods. This notice provides agencies with additional marking guidance for when it is impractical to individually mark CUI due to its quantity, the nature of the information, or when the agency has issued a limited CUI marking waiver.
You can find all the CUI Notices here.
Slides can be downloaded here: CUI Update to Stakeholders Q3 2020
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ISOO issued CUI Notice 2020-01 to facilitate a coordinated transition to the CUI Program.
Implementation Deadlines
Awareness campaign – By June 30, 2020, agencies must initiate an awareness campaign that informs their entire workforce of the coming transition to the standards of the CUI Program.
Policy – By December 31, 2020, agencies must issue policies that implement the CUI Program. Agencies may implement the CUI Program through a single policy or through multiple policies that address specific elements of the CUI Program. If an agency has sub-agencies, all those subordinate components must develop and publish implementing policies and/or modify or rescind all affected policies by June 30, 2021.
Classification marking tools and commingling – By December 31, 2020, agencies that manage, own, or control Classification Marking Tools (CMT) used to mark Classified National Security Information must have initiated any modification of such CMTs as necessary to begin accounting for CUI markings described on the CUI Registry and the standards described in 32 CFR 2002.20(g).
Training – By December 31, 2021, agencies (including any sub-agencies or components) must deploy CUI training to all affected employees. Agencies may implement CUI training through a single module or through multiple modules. CUI training may be incorporated into existing agency training (such as privacy, information systems, or records management training).
Physical safeguarding – By December 31, 2021, agencies (including any sub-agencies or components) must implement or verify that all physical safeguarding requirements, as described in 32 CFR 2002 and in agency policies, are in place.
Information systems – By December 31, 2021, agencies (including any sub-agencies or components) must modify all Federal information systems to the standards identified in 32 CFR 2002. Federal and contractor information systems that are used to store, process, or transmit CUI must be configured at no less than the Moderate Confidentiality impact value (see 32 CFR 2002.14).
Reporting – CUI Senior Agency Officials must submit an annual report on the CUI Program to ISOO no later than November 1 each year, and report on implementation during the preceding fiscal year. Reports must cover all implementation and program activities from October 1 to September 30 of the preceding fiscal year. Only parent agencies are required to report directly to ISOO. Agency components, elements, sub-agencies, regional locations, divisions, and/or internal lines of business must report to their parent agency.
Agencies that anticipate delays in implementing any of the above deadlines must include a narrative in their annual report submission that describes the issue giving rise to the delay and projects when they expect to implement the delayed program element. They must also include a copy of their implementation plan or strategy. ISOO will evaluate and formally approve delays on a case-by-case basis and may report such delays to the President.
There is an increased potential for CUI to be overheard or observed with more people likely to be in the home.
Many people used to have the house to themselves while teleworking and now in many households’ spouses, kids, and housemates are home.
Even in homes with a room that can be used as an office, it might be a room shared by both spouses. In this situation, even if both spouses work for the government, one spouse may not have a lawful government purpose to have access to information the other spouse has access to. Special attention should be paid to dissemination controls, particularly FED ONLY, NOCON, DL ONLY, Attorney-Client, Attorney-WP, and Deliberative.
Other employees do not live in a home with even the option of an extra room to serve as an office. This might include a couple living in a studio apartment or just a very full house.
Some employees also might live with housemates that are not of their choosing because of financial constraints. Nearly all of us can think back to the days — at some point in our life — that we were in this situation.
So how do agencies and employees establish a controlled environment to effectively safeguard CUI when it is used during telework?
There are lots of deeply personal reasons an employee might have to make the judgment call they need to take extra precautions in order to achieve a controlled environment. Just to name a few examples: a kid who tells everything to their friends or random strangers they walk by, an untrustworthy roommate, a family member with mental illness, or a divorce in progress.
In most cases an employee will prefer not to go into these details with a supervisor, the same way they might be willing to say they “live in a studio apartment with a parakeet”…though some employees might not even be comfortable saying that.
Though the personal situation can be generalized to protect employee personal privacy, there are three steps that should occur:
An employee knows their home environment best, so be a good listener when an employee says “I cannot talk about that now,” “Can I email you,” “I need to call you back about that,” etc.
Keeping the computer screen from being observed is a different set of challenges and depend greatly on the physical configuration of the work environment.
Different solutions will be right for different employees. Here a couple items supervisors might want to consider:
Employees also need to remember their obligation to report security and safeguarding incidents, even ones that happen at home. It is an essential security and safeguarding practice for agencies to foster a culture of self-reporting.
In addition, telework.gov is a great resource to check out for additional information.
What are other solutions that you have found to be a best practice as we all adjust to teleworking with a full house? What topics would you suggest be included in refresher training about creating a controlled environment while teleworking with a full house?
NOTE: If you attended the CUI Marking class on April 23, 2020; your completion certificate will be emailed to you by the end of this week.
The CUI program has a lot of flexibility built in to allow agencies to accomplish their mission, including while employees are teleworking.
Agencies must ensure CUI is safeguarded in accordance with 32 CFR 2002 (the CUI Program’s implementing directive) and the applicable laws, regulations, and government-wide policies. In doing so agencies must establish controlled environments where CUI can be effectively safeguarded.
Telework agreements can be used to spell out whether or not CUI is permitted, as well as, which categories of CUI employees can use while teleworking. The agreement should also outline what controls (physical or electronic) need to be in place to ensure adequate protection.
Here are some common issues agencies may encounter as they allow employees to telework with CUI:
1. Increased potential for CUI to be overheard or observed with more people likely to be in the home
2. Difficulty securing devices used for telework (computers, cell phones, tablets, routers, modems)
3. Ensuring compliance with current policies and limiting use of unauthorized equipment and media
4. Enabling employees to accomplish their tasks and adjusting expectations limit use of unauthorized workarounds
Agencies, in consultation with CUI Program Officials, should develop additional guidance that addresses each of the issues described above. Front-line supervisors should initiate discussions with their employees to assist and determine the best ways to ensure the protection of CUI while teleworking.
Today, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ISOO issued CUI Memo 2020-03-30 that clarifies issues concerning the application of an exigent circumstances waiver to CUI safeguarding requirements while teleworking.
Thank you to all those who attended the CUI Stakeholder meeting today. Please see the attached set of slides from the briefing. The next meeting will be February, 12th (1-3 EST).
CUI Stakeholders Briefing Nov 13
For those that did not attend topics included:
