INTRODUCTION
THE NEED TO PROTECT CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION
oday, more than at any time in history, the federal government is relying on external service providers to help carry out a wide range of federal missions and business functions using state-of-the-practice information systems. Many federal contractors, for example, routinely process, store, and transmit sensitive federal information in their information systems1 to support the delivery of essential products and services to federal agencies (e.g., providing credit card and other financial services; providing Web and electronic mail services; conducting background investigations for security clearances; processing healthcare data; providing cloud services; and developing communications, satellite, and weapons systems). Additionally, federal information is frequently provided to or shared with entities such as State and local governments, colleges and universities, and independent research organizations. The protection of sensitive federal information while residing in nonfederal information systems2 and organizations is of paramount importance to federal agencies and can directly impact the ability of the federal government to successfully carry out its designated missions and business operations, including those missions and functions related to the critical infrastructure.
The protection of unclassified federal information in nonfederal information systems and organizations is dependent on the federal government providing a disciplined and structured process for identifying the different types of information that are routinely used by federal agencies. On November 4, 2010, the President signed Executive Order 13556, Controlled Unclassified Information.3 The Executive Order established a governmentwide Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)4 Program to standardize the way the executive branch handles unclassified information that requires protection and designated the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) as the Executive Agent5 to implement that program. Only information that requires safeguarding or dissemination controls pursuant to federal law, regulation, or governmentwide policy may be designated as CUI.
The CUI Program is designed to address several deficiencies in managing and protecting unclassified information to include inconsistent markings, inadequate safeguarding, and needless restrictions, both by standardizing procedures and by providing common definitions through a CUI Registry.6 The CUI Registry is the online repository for information, guidance, policy, and
