# Security Council

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### Roles and Responsibilities

The Security Council plays a critical role in safeguarding the Connext protocol, its DAO members, and the wider community. Its responsibilities include:

* Conducting critical maintenance, including software updates and configurations
* Taking emergency actions in potentially time-sensitive situations

The Security Council operates under the purview of the Connext DAO, which is responsible for holding membership elections.

### Election Process

Elections for the Security Council are held annually, excluding an initial 6-month bootstrapping phase, during which the Connext Foundation will appoint the initial council.&#x20;

Before each election cycle, the Connext DAO will open a call for candidates, after which all eligible candidates will participate in the elections. In the [proposal ](https://snapshot.org/#/dao.connext.eth/proposal/0x1de93ea3698896c4af022b9c7ae21abfe20b27a4c15aadef4407f448953b5f87)from September 2024, changes to the election and structure of the Security Council were outlined such that:

* New council is comprised of 8 regular members and a Lead, translating into a 7/9 multisig.
* The term of each cohort is 12 months
* All the Council members (9 out of 9) have a technical background that allows them to read code and detect possible vulnerabilities.
* Monthly compensation  is included for each Council member, which remunerates them for their work and the risk of taking on the responsibility that comes with being part of the Council.
* Maximum members of the same organization were reduced from 3 to 2

#### Criteria for Membership

To be considered for a position on the council, candidates must meet the following criteria:

* Garner support from at least 0.4% of the voting supply prior to the election.
* Maintain membership in the Connext DAO for at least 3 months prior to the election.
* Have no more than 2 representatives from the same organization on the Council at a given time.
* Publicly disclose any potential conflicts of interest prior to campaigning for membership.

#### Emergency Removals

In the case of repeated non-compliance of the expected duties, any Security Council may be revoked at any time outside of standard elections if a mayority of the existing council members agree on the removal. The Connext DAO can also remove council members through a two-thirds majority vote with a minimum participation of 6% of the token supply.

### Why have a Council?

While Connext aims to move towards ungovernance in the future, the Connext protocol is not currently ready to operate without a degree of administrative oversight in emergency and non-emergency situations. Electing a council allows the DAO to ensure they have representation at this level while allowing council members to gain experience operating the protocol.