Counterintelligence polygraph questions are limited to six national security topics: espionage, sabotage, terrorism, unauthorized disclosure of classified information, unauthorized foreign contacts, and deliberate damage to U.S. government information systems or defense systems. The questions are short, phrased for yes-or-no answers, and reviewed with you before any sensors are attached. A CI-scope examination is narrower than most applicants expect, and knowing exactly what it covers — and what it is not allowed to cover — is the most useful preparation you can do.
The Six Question Categories
Every CI polygraph draws from the same authorized topics. Typical relevant questions include variations of “Have you been involved in espionage against the United States?” “Have you committed sabotage against the United States?” “Have you disclosed classified information to any unauthorized person?” and “Have you had any unauthorized foreign contact?”1National Academies. The Polygraph and Lie Detection Each maps to one of the six categories below.
Espionage
Espionage questions ask whether you have ever provided classified or sensitive information to a foreign government, a foreign intelligence service, or any unauthorized person. The underlying statute, 18 U.S.C. § 793, makes it a crime to gather, transmit, or lose national defense information, with a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 793 – Gathering, Transmitting or Losing Defense Information Examiners look for any history of cooperation with a foreign intelligence service, even something that felt informal at the time.
Sabotage
Sabotage questions cover whether you have ever intentionally damaged or attempted to damage government facilities, defense systems, or war materials. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2153, willfully destroying or damaging war material, premises, or utilities during wartime or a declared national emergency carries a maximum sentence of thirty years.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2153 – Destruction of War Material, War Premises, or War Utilities
Terrorism
Terrorism questions ask about any involvement in planning, supporting, financing, or carrying out terrorist activities against the United States, and about associations with organizations that advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Support in this context reaches financial contributions and logistical help, not only direct action.
Unauthorized Disclosure of Classified Information
This category targets whether you have ever shared classified information with someone who lacked the proper clearance or need-to-know. Every person with a security clearance signs the SF-312 Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement, which states that unauthorized disclosure can result in termination of clearances, removal from sensitive positions, and criminal prosecution.4General Services Administration. Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement Negligent handling of classified documents also falls within this topic, not only deliberate leaks.
Unauthorized Foreign Contacts
These questions focus on unreported contact with foreign nationals, particularly those connected to foreign intelligence services or foreign governments. Security Executive Agent Directive 3 requires cleared personnel to report continuing associations with foreign nationals that involve bonds of affection, influence, or the exchange of personal or sensitive information.5Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Security Executive Agent Directive 3 – Reporting Requirements for Personnel with Access to Classified Information or Who Hold a Sensitive Position Having foreign friends is not the issue. Failing to report the relationship through proper channels is.
Deliberate Damage to Government Information or Defense Systems
The sixth category asks whether you have ever intentionally damaged or misused a U.S. government information system or defense system.6eCFR. 10 CFR Part 709 – Counterintelligence Evaluation Program This covers acts like inserting malicious software, deliberately corrupting databases, or sabotaging communications systems, with a specific focus on digital infrastructure and classified networks.
What a CI Examiner Cannot Ask
A CI-scope polygraph has hard boundaries. Examiners cannot ask about drug use history, sexual behavior, personal finances, alcohol consumption, or general criminal conduct. Those belong to the full-scope (lifestyle) polygraph that agencies like the CIA, NSA, and FBI typically require. Department of Energy regulations for CI-scope exams explicitly prohibit questions that probe a person’s thoughts or beliefs, address conduct with no counterintelligence implication, or lack direct relevance to a CI investigation.6eCFR. 10 CFR Part 709 – Counterintelligence Evaluation Program Department of Defense Instruction 5210.91 similarly confines polygraph questioning to authorized counterintelligence and security topics.7Department of Defense. DoD Instruction 5210.91 – Polygraph and Credibility Assessment Procedures
There is one overlap to know about. If personal behavior directly ties to a CI concern, it becomes fair game because it falls under one of the six categories. Financial trouble caused by payments from a foreign intelligence service is an espionage question. A romantic relationship with an intelligence officer from a hostile nation is an unauthorized foreign contact question. Absent that direct tie, questions about your credit card debt or your weekend drinking are outside the authorized scope of a CI exam.
No Surprise Questions
You will hear every relevant question before any sensor touches you. The examination opens with a pre-test interview in which the examiner walks through your background, explains the scope of the test, and reads out each question that will appear during chart collection. This stage exists precisely to resolve ambiguity in the wording, so that a question you find confusing does not produce a reaction that has nothing to do with deception. If a phrase does not make sense to you, say so during pre-test.
During chart collection, you answer only yes or no. The examiner runs through the same set of questions several times to collect enough data. The whole session, pre-test included, generally runs two to four hours.
Preparing for the Questions
Preparation is mostly a memory exercise. The examiner will compare your verbal answers against your Standard Form 86, the Questionnaire for National Security Positions, which you submitted through the Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing system.8Office of Personnel Management. SF 86 – Questionnaire for National Security Positions Inconsistencies raise flags even when they are innocent lapses, so re-read every section before you arrive.
Foreign travel is a common stumble. The SF-86 asks for all foreign travel within the last seven years, including day trips to Canada or Mexico.9Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Common SF-86 Errors and Mistakes Have dates, destinations, and purposes ready. Foreign contacts need the same level of recall: names, nationalities, how you met, and how often you communicate. If you take prescription medications or have a cardiovascular, respiratory, or anxiety condition, tell the examiner during pre-test. These do not disqualify you, but they change how physiological data is interpreted.
If Your Answers Produce a Reaction
A reaction on a question is not the same as failing. After sensors come off, the examiner may conduct a post-test discussion to address any notable readings, and that is where you can explain anxiety, physical discomfort, or a memory that surfaced mid-test. Additional charts are sometimes collected if initial readings were inconclusive.
The examiner’s assessment in the room is not final either. Under DoDI 5210.91, a field examiner’s opinion does not constitute an official result until an independent quality control examiner reviews the chart data and either concurs or overrides.7Department of Defense. DoD Instruction 5210.91 – Polygraph and Credibility Assessment Procedures An inconclusive outcome typically leads to a second or third session rather than a denial.
Even a genuinely unfavorable result does not end the process on its own. DoDI 5210.91 prohibits unfavorable administrative action — including decisions about access, employment, assignment, or detail — based solely on a polygraph refusal or an unresolved polygraph result.7Department of Defense. DoD Instruction 5210.91 – Polygraph and Credibility Assessment Procedures Adjudicators weigh the polygraph alongside your background investigation, interviews, and the rest of your file under the adjudicative criteria in Security Executive Agent Directive 4.10Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Security Executive Agent Directive 4 – National Security Adjudicative Guidelines If the polygraph contributes to a denial, the agency issues a Statement of Reasons, and you can respond in writing, present evidence, and in many cases request a hearing before an administrative judge.
One caution about the interview stages. If you admit to conduct during pre-test or post-test that raises security or criminal concerns, that admission enters your investigative record regardless of what the charts show. The questions on a CI polygraph are narrow, but the pre-test conversation surrounding them is where most consequential disclosures actually happen.