product: CAPCO

CCM is a library developed by Stellar Science to manage classification and control markings as defined by the Controlled Access Program Coordinate Office (CAPCO) of the Director, Central Intelligence. CCM is able to parse markings, check them for consistency and completeness, and alert users to potential classification problems. CCM can be used as an engine within any application that needs to track, manage, merge, and validate classification markings, particularly in systems that need to combine information of various classification levels from different sources.

CCM’s Classification BuilderTM adds to CCM a graphical user interface that allows users to create and edit classification and control markings using buttons and menus. Expert users can alternatively type markings directly and Classification Builder will validate them. Either way, markings are checked for consistency and completeness – for example, to ensure that the classification level is consistent with the controls specified.

More details about classification markings can be found in the official NIMA Guide to Marking Documents.

CCM understands how to merge markings, making it ideal for use in fusion programs that deal with data having different classification restrictions. For example, if a user creates a product from multiple sources of classified data, the application can warn the user if the product’s classification and control markings are less strict than the aggregation of its sources’ markings.

CCM formats markings as portion markings, page (header and footer) markings, and cover sheet information, including classification block data and multiple source information. CCM understands both US and non-US markings, including SCI controls, dissemination controls, non-intel controls, and declassification dates and exemptions.

Different control systems do have different rules, restrictions, and constraints on what classification combinations are allowed, disallowed, or deprecated. CCM allows rules tailored for a specific classification system to be loaded from an XML data file, a Microsoft Access file, or a SQL database. The CCM code itself is unclassified, but this architecture allows classified rules to be introduced into any particular system.

CCM is implemented in C++ with no dependencies on any other libraries. Classification Builder uses the cross-platform Qt library, making it portable across Windows, Linux, Mac, Sun, and other UNIX environments.

Contact us to find out how you can license CCM for use in your applications that need to deal with classification markings.