C.3.4.1 - Goods acquisition

Goods acquisition involves the procurement of physical goods, products, and capital assets to be used by the Federal government.

The recommended security categorization for the goods acquisition information type is as follows:

Security category

C.3.4.1 - Goods acquisition = {(confidentiality, Low), (integrity, Low), (availability, Low)}

Confidentiality Low

The confidentiality impact level is the effect of unauthorized disclosure of goods acquisition information on the ability of agencies to procure physical goods, products, and capital assets to be used by the Federal government. The consequences of unauthorized disclosure of most goods acquisition information will have only a limited adverse effect on agency operations, agency assets, or individuals. Special Factors Affecting Confidentiality Impact Determination: Unauthorized disclosure of information associated with large procurements can result in fraud, waste, abuse, and/or legal proceedings that can have a serious to severe effect on Federal government assets and operations. Also, information associated with acquisition of many Federal government facilities can be 85 useful to criminals seeking to gain access to those facilities. In these cases, unauthorized disclosure of information can have a serious adverse effect on agency operations, agency assets, or individuals. The consequent confidentiality impact would range from moderate to high. Also, unauthorized disclosure of one agency's goods acquisition information by another agency could result in negative impacts on cross-jurisdictional coordination within the goods acquisition infrastructure and the general effectiveness of organizations tasked with acquisition of government facilities and supplies. Additionally, some procurement information associated with proposals is proprietary. In the case of competitive procurements, much information associated with unsuccessful bids remains proprietary following award of the contract (e.g., pricing information). Unauthorized disclosure of proprietary information can have serious consequences for agencies and have at least a moderate confidentiality impact level. Some procurement information is classified. The classified information is national security related and is outside the scope of this guideline. Recommended Confidentiality Impact Level: The provisional confidentiality impact level recommended for goods acquisition information is low.

Integrity Low

The integrity impact level is based on the specific mission and the data supporting that mission, not on the time required to detect the modification or destruction of information. The consequences of unauthorized modification or destruction of goods acquisition information usually depends on the urgency with which the information is needed or the immediacy with which the information is used Special Factors Affecting Integrity Impact Determination: Unauthorized modification or destruction of information affecting external publication of goods acquisition information (e.g., web pages, electronic mail) may adversely affect public confidence in the agency. However, damage to the mission would usually be limited. Unauthorized modification or destruction of information relating to procurement actions (particularly proposal information) can result in serious disruption of procurement processes that can be important or even critical to agency operations. In such cases, the integrity impact level can be moderate or even high. Recommended Integrity Impact Level: The provisional integrity impact level recommended for modification or destruction of most goods acquisition information is low.

Availability Low

The availability impact level is based on the specific mission and the data supporting that mission, not on the time required to re-establish access to the goods acquisition information. Functions and processes supported by most goods acquisition information are tolerant of delays i.e., the data supporting the functions/processes are not time-critical. Typically, disruption of access will have a limited adverse effect on agency operations (including mission functions and public confidence in the agency), agency assets, or individuals. Special Factors Affecting Availability Impact Determination: Exceptions may include emergency procurements necessary to support response aspects of disaster management. In such cases, delays may cost lives and major property damage. Consequently, the availability impact level associated with disruption of access to goods acquisition information needed to respond to emergencies may be high. 86 Recommended Availability Impact Level: The provisional availability impact level recommended for goods acquisition information is low.