Definition

Noun: 1. A counterintelligence action: The process of examining material to identify and prohibit or remove any information that could be valuable to an adversary, thereby protecting state secrets.

Usage

• This term is primarily used in governmental, military, and intelligence contexts.
• It refers to the formal procedure of vetting documents, speeches, publications, or communications before they are released to the public or a wider audience.
• The goal is to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information.

Examples

• The press release had to undergo a strict security review before being distributed to journalists.
• As part of the declassification process, the historical documents are subject to a security review.
• The officer's memoir was heavily redacted after the mandatory security review.

Advanced Usage

• The term often implies an official, systematic process conducted by a dedicated security office or committee.
• It can be used both as a compound noun ("The security review took two weeks") and in a hyphenated form when used as a modifier before another noun ("The security-review process is thorough").

Variants and Related Words

• Censorship (n): The broader suppression or prohibition of speech, writing, or other information, which may be done for various reasons (e.g., moral, political, security). A security review is a specific type of censorship for counterintelligence purposes.
• Redaction (n): The act of editing text to remove or conceal sensitive information, which is a typical action resulting from a security review.
• Pre-publication review (n): A specific type of security review required for current or former government employees before they publish writings related to their official work.

Synonyms

• Security clearance (of information)
• Classification review
• Sanitization (in an intelligence context)

Related Phrases

• To subject to a security review: To require that something undergo this process.
  • All research papers from the lab are subjected to a security review.
• To pass/fail a security review: To be approved or rejected by the reviewing authority.
  • The manuscript failed the security review and was returned for revisions.

Noun

1. counterintelligence achieved by banning or deleting any information of value to the enemy