[mathsmath]

Even in the US, nothing is technically stopping you from walking into a SCIF with a phone most of the time. We used the honor system.

I would almost automatically assume that any SCIF in a foreign country was compromised to some degree.

[lolinder]

Which would completely invalidate the entire purpose of the SCIF, no? Unless it exists to feed fake info to the locals?

[sgjohnson]

> Which would completely invalidate the entire purpose of the SCIF, no?

Yes. But if you belong in there, nobody is going to second guess you.

[tsujamin]

It’s probably not an all or nothing prospect. Raise the costs enough/mitigate the threat in atleast some of them etc

[bell-cot]

It's government. Security Theater/"Look, we're trying" is usually more important than reality.

[77pt77]

> nothing is technically stopping you from walking into a SCIF with a phone most of the time

That is ridiculous.

I've been to multiple embassies as a nobody and no electronics were allowed and this was strictly enforced.

[bigstrat2003]

I agree it's ridiculous (though not in the way you meant), but he is telling the truth. I don't doubt that there are facilities which are watched as closely as you describe, but not all are. I have worked in a SCIF where the only thing stopping me from bringing in a phone was the fact that I said I wouldn't, and I keep my word.

[mathsmath]

I added “most of the time” to match my experience. If the entire building is a SCIF, I’ve usually left my phone in the car. If it’s just a room in a building, they usually have lockers outside and use the honor system.

[quantified]

It's not universal though: [https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/10/the-republican-scif-i...]

[comfysocks]

If you work in a scif, then I might assume you already have a security clearance and were read-in to the program. Is so, that might explain the trust.