Who has the ultimate authority to grant ACCESS to classified information?

• A. Commanding Officer responsible for the security of the information.
• B. Security Officer
• C. Information Owner
• D. Chief of Security

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is who has the final say over who can read classified information. The person charged with the security of that information—typically the Commanding Officer—has ultimate authority to grant or deny access. This official is accountable for safeguarding the material and ensuring anyone granted access has both the proper clearance and a current need-to-know. While a Security Officer enforces security rules and processes access requests, and an Information Owner sets how the information should be protected, the final authorization rests with the commander. Delegation can occur for routine cases, but the final decision remains with the person in command who bears ultimate responsibility for the command’s security posture.