Unauthorised Access: Physical Penetration Testing For IT Security Teams

D.1.1. Clearance Procedures in the United Kingdom

Security clearances in the United Kingdom are issued for a range of reasons and by several authorities. You will need to be vetted if you work as a full-time member of staff for a central government department or as a consultant or contractor for:

• The armed forces or Ministry of Defence.

• Law enforcement (either with the police or a civilian agency such as the Forensic Science Service).

• Government departments. Central government usually requires you to be cleared to SC level, in line with advice from the security services. Local departments (outside London) have much more autonomy and unless you are working on a project perceived to be particularly sensitive are unlikely to require anything above a counter-Terrorism check and even that is unlikely as these have to be paid for out of departmental budgets.

Obtaining a security clearance is generally not difficult when it is something that is required for a particular project and this ease tends to increase with your value to the project. It is important to note that the final decision to grant clearances lies with your security controller. Although the security services (MI5) and the Defence Vetting Agency (DVA) conduct investigations, they only provide guidance to the sponsoring authority. It's not their job to grant or deny any given clearance. However, their advice is usually followed.

You cannot, as an individual, apply for a clearance yourself. It has to be sponsored by government ...