What is list x status?

What is list x status?

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pmanson

Original Poster:

13,387 posts

260 months

Monday 16th August 2004
quotequote all
What it says in the title really. Doing some research at work after a meeting when the phrase "List X Status" was brought up when talking about some of our MOD jobs.

What is it?
How do you get it?

Any one got any ideas? A few links talk about it on the web but don't actually explain what it is.

Cheers,

Phill

miniman

26,312 posts

269 months

Monday 16th August 2004
quotequote all
It's a level of government security clearance. It has a variety of internal "scales" - the standard is "SC" clearance which is fairly easy to get. You have to fill out a 6-8 page form, IIRC, which has questions about you, your parents, nationality etc.

From experience, any criminal records, people living in Ireland etc. etc. tend to get looked into quite closely.

List-X also relates to IT systems - they are pretty strict about what kind of systems are "safe" for military data. Sadly, the rules are quite archaic. Their preferred security system for a network is pretty much "all PCs to be unplugged from the mains and switched off at all times"

Whether you need the classification or not depends on the level of security on the data itself. A great deal of military stuff is unlcassified - for example I have worked on a lot of military aerospace parts and maintenance documentation which you would think ought to be "classified" but isn't.

Hope this helps. If you have specific questions, I can ask our company security officer who has been managing List-X accreditations for years.

pmanson

Original Poster:

13,387 posts

260 months

Monday 16th August 2004
quotequote all
Cheers for that!

I think thats all I need for the moment.

underworld

43 posts

249 months

Monday 16th August 2004
quotequote all
miniman said:
It's a level of government security clearance. It has a variety of internal "scales" - the standard is "SC" clearance which is fairly easy to get. You have to fill out a 6-8 page form, IIRC, which has questions about you, your parents, nationality etc.


How do you go about getting this then as I've seen a few jobs recently asking for this?

miniman

26,312 posts

269 months

Monday 16th August 2004
quotequote all
underworld said:
How do you go about getting this then as I've seen a few jobs recently asking for this?

I don't believe that you can simply "apply" for it yourself. Normally you would be cleared upon entry to a company. The company I worked for had a stack of forms and a dedicated security office who handled it all. You might find some info at www.mod.uk