Classified information is restricted to those who need to know it, with governments and organizations having systems in place to protect it. It has existed since ancient times, with access restrictions becoming more complex with technology. Governments have different levels of classification, with security clearances determining access. National security is the primary concern when classifying information. Historical incidents of accessing classified information have occurred, with passing it to the enemy considered treason. Governments periodically downgrade historical documents for examination.
Classified information is information that has been deemed sensitive enough to restrict access to it. A classic example of this type of information is military intelligence, which circulates only among people who absolutely need to see it to reduce the risk of potentially catastrophic information leaks. All governments and many large organizations such as businesses have systems in place to identify and protect classified information to ensure it does not fall into the wrong hands.
The concept of classified information is quite ancient. Both the ancient Greeks and Romans had systems in place to protect information, and some societies had traditions of using deaf servants at confidential gatherings to ensure guests were well supplied while information during the meeting remained secret. With the development of ever more complex technology, classified data has become correspondingly more complicated, as have access restrictions.
Most governments differentiate their classified information into several levels, ranging from top secret information that is only seen by a handful of people to unclassified information, which is open to the general public. People who work for the government receive a security clearance detailing the information they can access; security clearances are typically built into accounts on government computer systems and ID cards so that only people with the right clearance can access highly classified data.
When information is evaluated to determine whether or not it should be classified, the primary concern is national security, or in the case of an organization, the security of that organization. For example, the fact that a president is visiting a certain city is not considered classified information, but the details of his journey would be classified, because someone could potentially use this information to attack the president.
As long as humans have classified information, other humans have tried to access that information. There have been several famous historical incidents of people broadcasting classified organizations within organizations or breaking into organizations with the purpose of gaining access to classified information. The willful passing of classified information to the enemy is generally considered treason.
Periodically, a government will downgrade historical documents so that historians and others can examine them. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the United States, for example, has a large archive of declassified documents, some of them quite interesting, such as the files of high-profile figures from earlier historical eras.
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