Information AboutNsa |
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The '''National Security Agency / . Its Eavesdropping mission includes Radio Broadcasting , both from various organizations and individuals, the Internet , and other intercepted forms of communication, especially confidential communications. Its secure communications mission includes Military , Diplomatic , and all other sensitive, confidential or secret government communications. Despite having been described as the world's largest single employer of Ph.D. Mathematician s, the owner of the single largest group of Supercomputer s, and having a budget much larger than that of the CIA , it has had a remarkably low profile until recent years. For a long time its existence was not even acknowledged by the US government. It was often said, half-jokingly, that "NSA" stood for "No Such Agency" or "Never Say Anything". Because of its listening task, the NSA/ CSS has been heavily involved in Cryptanalytic research, continuing the work of its predecessor agencies which had been responsible for breaking many World War II Code s and Cypher s (see, for instance, Purple Code , Venona , and JN-25 ). Headquarters for the National Security Agency is at Fort George G. Meade , Maryland , approximately ten miles (16 km) northeast of Washington, DC . NSA has its own exit off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway labeled "NSA Employees Only" which is usually guarded by two Maryland State Police vehicles. The scale of the operations at the NSA is hard to determine from unclassified data, but one clue is the Electricity usage of NSA's headquarters. NSA's budget for electricity exceeds US$21 million per year, making it the second largest electricity consumer in the entire state of Maryland. Photos have shown there to be 18,000 parking spaces at the site, although most guesses have put the NSA's total workforce at around double that number as employees are sited worldwide. Its secure government communications work has involved NSA in numerous technology areas including the design of specialized communications hardware and software, production of dedicated Semiconductor s (there is a chip fabrication plant at Ft. Meade ), and advanced Cryptography research. The agency contracts with the private sector in the fields of research and equipment. AGENCY HISTORY The origins of the National Security Agency can be traced to an organization originally established within the Department Of Defense , under the command of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff as the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA), on May 20 , 1949 . The AFSA was to be responsible for directing the communications and electronic intelligence activities of the military intelligence units - the Army Security Agency , Naval Security Group and the Air Force Security Service . However, the agency had little power and lacked a centralized coordination mechanism. The creation of NSA resulted from a December 10 , 1951 , memo sent by CIA Director Walter Bedell Smith to James B. Lay, Executive Secretary of the National Security Council . The memo observed that "control over, and coordination of, the collection and processing of Communications Intelligence had proved ineffective" and recommended a survey of communications intelligence activities. The proposal was approved on December 13 , 1951 , and the study authorized on December 28 , 1951 . The report was completed by June 13 , 1952 . Generally known as the "Brownell Committee Report," after committee chairman Herbert Brownell , it surveyed the history of U.S. communications intelligence activities and suggested the need for a much greater degree of coordination and direction at the national level. As the change in the security agency's name indicated, the role of the NSA was extended beyond the armed forces. The creation of the NSA was authorized in a letter written by President Harry S. Truman in June of 1952. The agency was formally established through a revision of National Security Council Intelligence Directive (NSCID) 9 on October 24, 1952, and officially came into existence on November 4, 1952. President Truman's letter was itself Classified and remained unknown to the public for more than a generation. INVOLVEMENT WITH NON-GOVERNMENT CRYPTOGRAPHY NSA has been involved in debates about public policy, both as a behind-the-scenes adviser to other departments, and directly during and after Vice Admiral Bobby Ray Inman 's directorship. The NSA was embroiled in controversy concerning its involvement in the creation of the Data Encryption Standard (DES), a standard and public Block Cipher used by the US government. During development by IBM in the 1970s, the NSA recommended changes to the algorithm. There was suspicion the agency had deliberately weakened the algorithm sufficiently to enable it to eavesdrop if required. The suspicions were that a critical component — the so-called S-box es — had been altered to insert a "backdoor"; and that the key length had been reduced, making it easier for the NSA to discover the key using massive computing power. However, the public reinvention of the technique known as Differential Cryptanalysis suggested that one of the changes (to the S-box es) had actually been suggested to harden the algorithm against this -- then publicly unknown -- method of attack; differential cryptanalysis remained publicly unknown until it was independently reinvented and published some decades later. On the other hand the shortening of the Cryptographic Key from 128 bits, as recommended in IBM submission, to an effective key of only 56 bits in length, can only be interpreted as an intentional weakening of the algorithm by the NSA, making possible an Exhaustive Search for the key by those with sufficient computer power and funding. Possibly because of previous controversy, the involvement of NSA in the selection of a successor to DES, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), was limited to Hardware performance testing (see AES Competition ). NSA was a major player in the debates of the mid to late 1990s regarding the Export Of Cryptography . Cryptographic software and hardware had long been classed with Fighter Plane s, Tank s, Cannon s, and Atomic Bomb s as controllable Munitions . The NSA/CSS has, at times, attempted to restrict the publication of academic research into cryptography; for example, the Khufu And Khafre block ciphers. PATENTS The NSA has the ability to file for a Patent from the US Patent And Trademark Office under Gag Order . Unlike a normal patent, the NSA's is never revealed to the public and never expires. However, if the Patent Office receives an application for an identical patent from a third party, they will reveal the NSA's patent and officially grant it to the NSA for the full term on that date. ECHELON See Also: ECHELON NSA/CSS, in combination with the equivalent agencies in the United Kingdom ''( Government Communications Headquarters )'', Canada ''( Communications Security Establishment ),'' Australia ''( Defence Signals Directorate )'', and New Zealand ''( Government Communications Security Bureau )'', and otherwise known as the UKUSA group, is believed to be responsible for, among other things, the operation of the ECHELON system. Its capabilities are suspected to include the ability to monitor a large proportion of the world's transmitted civilian Telephone , Fax and data traffic. The system has as one of its most important bases at the nominally RAF -run station at Menwith Hill near Harrogate , Yorkshire . Another site, at Sugar Grove, West Virginia , intercepts all international communications entering the eastern U.S., while a site near Yakima , Washington intercepts traffic in the western U.S., according to a December 25 , 2005 article in the '' New York Times ''. Technically, almost all modern telephone, internet, fax & satellite communications are exploitable due to recent advances in technology and the 'open air' nature of much of the radio communications around the world. The NSA's presumed collection operations have generated much criticism, possibly stemming from the assumption that the NSA/CSS represents an infringement of Americans' Privacy . However, the NSA's United States Signals Intelligence Directive 18 (USSID 18) strictly prohibits the interception or collection of information about "...US persons, entities, corporations or organizations..." without explicit written legal permission from the Attorney General of the United States. The Supreme Court has ruled that intelligence agencies cannot conduct surveillance against American citizens. There are of course a few extreme circumstances where collecting on a US entity would be allowed without a USSID 18 waiver, such as with civilian distress signals, or sudden emergencies (such as 9/11; however, the USA PATRIOT Act has significantly changed privacy legality). Evidence strongly suggests that in practice, NSA/CSS implements an end run around legal restrictions on internal surveillance by having partner agencies in other countries spy on US citizens while the NSA returns the favor for these agencies, thereby avoiding illegal spying on their own citizens. In the past, there have been alleged instances of improper violations of USSID 18 that occurred in violation of the NSA's strict charter prohibiting such acts. In addition, ECHELON is considered with indignation by citizens of countries outside the UKUSA alliance, with widespread suspicion that the United States government uses it for motives other than its national security, including Political and Industrial Espionage . The chartered purpose of the NSA/CSS is solely to acquire significant foreign intelligence information pertaining to National Security or ongoing military intelligence operations. PHONE TAPS See Also: NSA warrantless surveillance controversy On '' According to the Times: The White House asked The New York Times not to publish this article, arguing that it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny. After meeting with senior administration officials to hear their concerns, the newspaper delayed publication for a year to conduct additional reporting. Some information that administration officials argued could be useful to terrorists has been omitted. News of tapping sparked an outcry from members of Congress and organizations which regard such actions as a violation of the law and an abuse of of the USA Patriot Act . White House press secretary '' Senator '' Senator Patrick Leahy (D- VT ), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, added later, "The Bush administration seems to believe it is above the law." Critics of the NYT disclosure claim that the President has the authority to order such action by virtue of Executive Order 12333 signed by President Reagan in 1981. The United States Department of Justice opened an investigation in late December 2005 to try to determine the source of the leak to the New York Times. STAFF Directors
''USA'', ''USAF'', and ''USN'' are the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Navy, respectively. Deputy Directors
Notable cryptanalysts
NSA ENCRYPTION SYSTEMS Main article: NSA Encryption Systems NSA is responsible for the encryption-related components in these systems:
PAST AND PRESENT SIGINT ACTIVITIES
IN FICTION Main article: NSA In Fiction Since the existence of the NSA has become more widely known in the last few decades, and particularly since the 1990's, the agency has regularly been portrayed in spy fiction. Most such portrayals probably grossly exaggerate the organization's involvement in the more sensational activities of intelligence agencies. One of NSA's first appearances in fiction was on the show Seven Days . An indication of the agency's increased "fame" is its named appearance in the Bond franchise in '' Die Another Day '', with a Bond Girl portrayed by Halle Berry working for them. The NSA has been featured in many other films and books, including Dan Brown 's '' Digital Fortress ''. It's also portrayed in '' Splinter Cell '', a series of very popular video games written by author Tom Clancy for Xbox , Playstation 2 , GameCube , PC , and, soon, Xbox 360 , starring Sam Fisher , an agent working for Third Echelon (a fictional sub-agency of the NSA). The NSA was also an important part of the 1998 movie '' Enemy Of The State ''. NOTES SEE ALSO
NSA computers FURTHER READING
EXTERNAL LINKS
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| "http://usersskynetbe/terrorism/html/usa_nsahtm" class="copylinks" target="_blank">NSA: BibliographyCompilation and research by Jean-Pierre H Coumont |
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