compartment

A grouping of sensitive information items that require special access controls beyond those normally provided for the basic classification level of the information. (See: compartmented security mode. Compare: category, classification.)

Usage: The term is usually understood to include the special handling procedures to be used for the information.

Synonym for "category".

Deprecated Usage: This Glossary defines "category" with a slightly narrower meaning than "compartment". That is, a security label is assigned to a category because the data owner needs to handle the data as a compartment. However, a compartment could receive special protection in a system without being assigned a category label.