Customer Endorsements

During the first year this program was available on the DSS Academy web site, it was downloaded by almost 2,400 organizations and distributed on about 2,500 CD-ROMs.  Users of this program have commented as follows.

"This is the best basic security awareness guide I have seen in 40 years of government and industrial classified work.  Our business is on-site support to federal government customers at hundreds of sites worldwide.  We can't give security awareness briefings in person to each individual employee.  With this guide, we can give our employees via our company intranet a well-researched and current tool for ready reference as they need it."

Jim Kenney
Director of Security
Unisys U.S. Federal Government Group
McLean, VA

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"The most important feature of this program is that our employees find it valuable and actually use it!  It is user friendly and works like a gem.  Employees get good information with a push of a button.

The Guide also provides excellent source material for security professionals.  I have incorporated several of the topics into our annual and initial security training program.  I wish it had been available several years ago when I was a Facility Security Officer."

Gary Llewellyn
Chief, Security Division
DOD Office of the Inspector General

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"Department of Army has installed the Customizable Security Guide on the Army Intelligence and Security Programs Oversight and Management (DAISPOM) web site on the SIPRNET.  Army security professionals can view the program on that site and, with the assistance of their information assurance specialist, download the program to make it available to all personnel on their local network.  We have found it an excellent tool for providing basic DOD security information on a variety of topics in support of security training mandates.

The ability of local Commands to customize the Guide by adding Command-unique requirements is an added benefit.  While most Army Commands have elected to use the Guide as is, some have supplemented the Guide prior to placing it on their Command web sites.  Those who have used the Guide say it is a great security awareness tool, and that it saves them time when preparing training sessions."

Judith Morisse
Office of Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence
HQS, Department of Army

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"We used the Security Guide as a baseline for developing a new Corporate Security Intranet, and tailored the Guide to include our procedures, forms, and points of contact.  Our employees can search for information on a particular topic, submit a form, or obtain the name of the right individual to contact for help.  And they can do it all conveniently online from their offices.

For example, an employee can find procedures for obtaining a security clearance, processing a visit request, requesting an ID badge, and reporting foreign travel information -- and can submit a request for these and other security services online.  The process utilizes workflow technology, which routes the request to appropriate security personnel and allows employees to track the status of their request throughout the process.  

The Security Guide is a valuable tool that saved us a considerable amount of time and effort.  It provides an excellent source of security awareness information and serves as a primary interface between our Security organization, our customers, and our processes.  It was easily customized to meet our needs and allowed us to provide an improved level of service in an efficient and cost-effective manner."

Barry Fitzgerald
Director of Corporate Security
General Dynamics Advanced Technology Systems
Whippany, NJ

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"The Security Guide saves us a lot of time by not having to create security training from scratch.  We have a link to the Guide on our internal Security Web Page to make it available to all employees that work in our facility.  We also set up a Quarterly Security Training Page with links to four or five topics from the Security Guide that support our training plan.  To fulfill their quarterly security training requirement, our personnel have to read the information and then send an e-mail with confirmation that they read it back to the security office.  Our training will get another big boost as soon as A-SABS is available, so that we can test our personnel on their compliance and comprehension of the material."

Scott Green
Program Security Manager
Kirtland Air Force Base

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"The counterintelligence elements of the Security Guide are on the Department of Energy's CI Training Academy web site.  It is a great resource for web-based learning and has been invaluable in promoting CI awareness in DOE.  We use it in training both CI officers and security officers in DOE and in DOE's many contractor-operated facilities.  They, in turn, use it to help employees recognize the "red flags" of individual behavior and foreign intelligence collection activity.  The material in the Guide is not only informative, but also recent, real, and relevant."

John Leftault
Manager, CI Training Academy
DOE Nonproliferation and National Security Institute

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"I think the way you kept it casual, light-hearted, etc. with some animated artwork adds to the program's appeal.  I personally hate reading through something that's written like "legal eagle" boring stuff.  When we put it online we asked everyone to test their skill with the "Know-It-All's Security Quiz.”  The employees liked it."

B. Ford, Security Officer
Southwest Research Institute
San Antonio, Texas

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"Thanks for the great product.  It's informative and easy to use.  I was particularly impressed by the positive manner in which the material is presented.  So many security initiatives seem to emphasize only the punitive aspects of noncompliance.  The installation was so simple that I had it online almost immediately."

Robert Perrin
Program Security Officer
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren VA Division

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"This Guide is a testament to the hard work by some folks in government who understand what's truly useful from a Security Education perspective.  Since a lot of information in the Guide mirrored and improved upon our own Standard Practices and Procedures Handbook, I decided to incorporate our Handbook into the Guide.  I customized the Guide to meet our specific needs and gave it a more lively name -- Security Threat Awareness and Responsibilities Guide, or the STAR Guide for short.

We introduced the Guide to our employees by holding a contest with great prizes given to individuals who could answer questions based on the Guide.  The answers then provided clues to figure out a final puzzle.  I banked on our technical staff refusing  to be beaten by a "complex" Security puzzle, and this bet paid off handsomely.  The response was phenomenal and increased use of our Security website by 735% during that period, as measured by our web tracking software!  In the process, our staff familiarized themselves with this quality product and our website, and discovered that the information is at their fingertips and not lost within their desk or hidden between books on their bookshelves.

I now use the Guide when I present initial security briefings to newly cleared individuals.  After the presentation, I test their knowledge by going over the quizzes that are available in the Guide.  Usually, I divide the group into teams, and they compete for candy or some other reward.  It's amazing how a little competition perks up the interest.  The computer animations with the answers provide humor, and the staff learns in unison.  After the quizzes, I hit some of the other links (Spy Stories, Treason 101, etc.), just to whet their curiosity.  Afterward, I check our web tracking software to determine how many go and look up more information in the Guide.  Usually, I'm not disappointed."

Ben Espinoza
Security Manager
Allied Signal Technology
Sunnyvale, CA

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"My company recently set up a website for all employees to access company data, so I began searching for material to include in my security section.  When I found the Security Guide through the DSS website, I thought, 'What a godsend that someone actually thought to put all this information together.’  I manage three branch offices with part-time FSOs at two of them.  This guide will save us all a lot of time.  When I told my Information Systems Manager about this program, one of his first questions was 'How much does it cost?’  My answer that 'It's free' certainly helped sell my website ideas to management."

Sandra McKenzie
Security Manager
Sverdrup Technology, Inc
Camarillo, CA

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"Thank you so much for making it possible for this command to have and use this awesome program.  I have sent it out to all the command security monitors.  They say it is very beneficial in promoting their internal security programs."

Brenda S. Turner
Information Security Specialist
US Army Space and Missile Defense Command

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"The Security Guide completely meets our needs and is a valuable awareness tool for our cleared employees.  Links to the Guide are now in the security e-mail signature blocks for our internal e-mail, our monthly company newsletter, and in the initial "Welcome Aboard" e-mail sent to all new employees."

Jim Roberts
Corporate Security Officer
Metron, Inc.
Reston, VA

 

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