October 19, 1995, six months after the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 12977, creating the ISC to address continuing Government-wide security for Federal facilities. Prior to 1995, minimum physical security standards did not exist for nonmilitary federally owned or leased facilities.

The ISC's mandate is to enhance the quality and effectiveness of physical security in, and the protection of, buildings and civilian Federal facilities in the United States. The ISC standards apply to all civilian federal facilities in the U.S.-- whether Government-owned, -leased or -managed; to be constructed or modernized, or to be purchased

The ISC's release of two new interim standards — the Physical Security Criteria for Federal Facilities and the Design-Basis Threat Report – represents extensive collaboration and cooperation among the 45 member agencies of the ISC across the Federal Government. The Physical Security Criteria for Federal Facilities is a culmination of 15 years of information-gathering and -sharing and lessons learned in the field of Federal facility security. The Design-Basis Threat Report introduces key new concepts and provides opportunity to customize countermeasures for facilities as needed.