One company must be responsible for the installation, maintenance, and monitoring of the Intrusion Detection System (IDS) for SCIFs.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not Applicable
• D. Not Sure

Answer: (A)

Intrusion detection within SCIFs is a lifecycle responsibility that must be clearly assigned to a single entity to ensure accountability, consistent configuration, and timely responses. When one company handles installation, ongoing maintenance, and real-time monitoring, there’s a single point of contact for all issues, updates, and incident escalation. This cohesion helps ensure the IDS is properly placed to detect breaches, receives necessary firmware and rule updates, and is continuously watched so alerts are acted on quickly. Fragmenting these duties across multiple vendors can lead to gaps in security, inconsistent settings, and delayed responses, which undermines the integrity of the SCIF’s protection. While the organization that owns the facility ultimately governs security, having one responsible contractor for the IDS aligns with the need for clear ownership, traceable change control, and reliable performance.