Answer: C. Making the initial determination that information requires protection against unauthorized disclosure in the interest of national security.
Derivative classification means paraphrasing, incorporating, restating, or even generating new form information that has been classified and marking the newly developed material consistent with the classification markings that apply to the source information. Probably the most important responsibilities of derivative classifiers are to observe and respect the initial or original classification authority’s decision and to use only authorized sources to determine derivative classification. There are two primary sources of policy guidance for derivative classification. Making the original determination that information needs protection against unauthorized disclosure in the interest of national security.