National Security Agency
Encyclopedia
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service
(NSA/CSS) is a cryptologic intelligence
agency of the United States Department of Defense
responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S. government
communications and information systems
, which involves cryptanalysis
and cryptography
.
The NSA is directed by at least a lieutenant general
or vice admiral
. NSA is a key component of the U.S. Intelligence Community
, which is headed by the Director of National Intelligence. The Central Security Service
is a co-located agency created to coordinate intelligence activities and co-operation between NSA and other U.S. military cryptanalysis agencies. The Director of the National Security Agency
serves as the Commander of the United States Cyber Command
and Chief of the Central Security Service
.
By law, NSA's intelligence gathering is limited to foreign communications, although domestic incidents such as the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy
have occurred.
mission includes radio
broadcasting
, both from various organizations and individuals, the Internet
, telephone calls, and other intercepted forms of communication. Its secure communications mission includes military
, diplomatic
, and all other sensitive, confidential or secret government communications. It has been described as the world's largest single employer of mathematician
s, and the owner of the single largest group of supercomputer
s, but it has tried to keep a low profile. For many years, its existence was not acknowledged by the U.S. government, earning it the nickname, "No Such Agency" (NSA). It was also quipped that their motto is "Never Say Anything".
According to the Washington Post, "[e]very day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communications. The NSA sorts a fraction of those into 70 separate databases."
Because of its listening task, NSA/CSS has been heavily involved in cryptanalytic
research, continuing the work of predecessor agencies which had broken many World War II
code
s and cipher
s (see, for instance, Purple, Venona project
, and JN-25
).
In 2004, NSA Central Security Service
and the National Cyber Security Division
of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agreed to expand NSA Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education Program.
As part of the National Security Presidential Directive
54/Homeland Security Presidential Directive 23 (NSPD 54), signed on January 8, 2008 by President Bush, the NSA became the lead agency to monitor and protect all of the federal government's computer networks from cyber-terrorism
. In 2010, Robert Gates called for DHS to have a "cell" that would be able to apply the full surveillance powers of NSA for domestic cyber security.
Headquarters for the National Security Agency is at Fort George G. Meade
, Maryland
, about 15 mi (24.1 km) southwest of Baltimore
. The NSA has its own exit off Maryland Route 295 South labeled "NSA Employees Only." The scale of the operations at the NSA is hard to determine from unclassified data; some 18,000 parking spaces are visible in photos of the site. In 2006, the Baltimore Sun reported that the NSA was at risk of electrical overload because of insufficient internal electrical infrastructure at Fort Meade to support the amount of equipment being installed. This problem was apparently recognized in the 1990s but not made a priority, and "now the agency's ability to keep its operations going is threatened."
Its secure government communications work has involved the NSA in numerous technology areas, including the design of specialized communications hardware and software, production of dedicated semiconductor
s (at the Ft. Meade
chip fabrication plant), and advanced cryptography
research. The agency contracts with the private sector in the fields of research and equipment.
In addition to its Ft. Meade headquarters, the NSA has facilities at the Texas Cryptology Center
in San Antonio, Texas
; at Fort Gordon
, Georgia
, and elsewhere.
On January 6, 2011 a groundbreaking ceremony was held to begin construction on the NSA's first Comprehensive National Cyber-security Initiative (CNCI) Data Center; the "Utah Data Center" for short. The USD
$1.5 billion data center is being built at Camp Williams
, Utah
, located 25 miles (40.2 km) miles south of Salt Lake City. The data center will help support the agency's National Cyber-security Initiative.
and Trusted Network Interpretation (Red Book)
detailing trusted computing and network platform specifications. The two works are more formally known as the Trusted Computing System Evaluation Criteria and Trusted Network Interpretation, part of the Rainbow Series
, however, they have largely been replaced by the Common Criteria
.
under the command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
. The AFSA was to direct the communications and electronic intelligence activities of the U.S. military intelligence
units: the Army Security Agency, the Naval Security Group
, and the Air Force Security Service. However, that agency had little power and lacked a centralized coordination mechanism. The creation of NSA resulted from a December 10, 1951, memo sent by Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) Director Walter Bedell Smith
to James S. 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 NSA was extended beyond the armed forces.
The creation of NSA was authorized in a letter written by President Harry S. Truman
in June 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. A brief but vague reference to the NSA first appeared in the United States Government Organization Manual from 1957, which described it as "a separately organized agency within the Department of Defense under the direction, authority, and control of the Secretary of Defense [...] for the performance of highly specialized technical functions in support of the intelligence activities of the United States."
National Cryptologic Memorial
Crews associated with NSA missions have been involved in a number of dangerous and deadly situations. The well known USS Liberty incident
in 1967 and USS Pueblo
incident in 1968 are a small sample of the losses endured during the Cold War.
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service Cryptologic Memorial honors and remembers the fallen personnel, both military and civilian, of these intelligence missions. It is made of black granite, and has 163 names (as of 2011) carved into it. It is located at NSA headquarters. A tradition of declassifying the stories of the fallen was begun in 2001.
The heraldic insignia of NSA consists of a bald eagle
facing its right, grasping a key in its talons, representing NSA's clutch on security as well as the mission to protect and gain access to secrets. The eagle is set on a background of blue and its breast features a blue shield supported by 13 bands of red and white. The surrounding white circular border features "National Security Agency" around the top and "United States of America" underneath, with two five-pointed silver stars between the two phrases. The current NSA insignia has been in use since 1965, when then-Director
, LTG Marshall S. Carter
(USA
) ordered the creation of a device to represent the Agency.
's directorship. NSA was a major player in the debates of the 1990s regarding the export of cryptography
. Restrictions on export were reduced but not eliminated in 1996.
algorithm
used by the U.S. government and banking community. During the development of DES by IBM
in the 1970s, NSA recommended changes to some details of the design. There was suspicion that these changes had weakened the algorithm sufficiently to enable the agency to eavesdrop if required, including speculation that a critical component—the so-called S-box
es—had been altered to insert a "backdoor" and that the reduction in key length might have made it feasible for NSA to discover DES keys using massive computing power. It has since been observed that the S-boxes in DES are particularly resilient against differential cryptanalysis
, a technique which was not publicly discovered until the late 1980s, but which was known to the IBM DES team. The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
reviewed NSA's involvement, and concluded that while the agency had provided some assistance, it had not tampered with the design. In late 2009 NSA declassified information stating that "NSA worked closely with IBM to strengthen the algorithm against all except brute force attacks and to strengthen substitution tables, called S-boxes. Conversely, NSA tried to convince IBM to reduce the length of the key from 64 to 48 bits. Ultimately they compromised on a 56-bit key."
s, NSA proposed the concept of key escrow
in 1993 and introduced the Clipper chip that would offer stronger protection than DES but would allow access to encrypted data by authorized law enforcement officials. The proposal was strongly opposed and key escrow requirements ultimately went nowhere. However, NSA's Fortezza
hardware-based encryption cards, created for the Clipper project, are still used within government, and NSA ultimately published the design of the SKIPJACK cipher
(but not the key exchange protocol) used on the cards.
performance testing (see AES competition
). NSA has subsequently certified AES for protection of classified information (for at most two levels, e.g. SECRET information in an unclassified environment) when used in NSA-approved systems.
hash functions were designed by NSA. SHA-1 is a slight modification of the weaker SHA-0 algorithm, also designed by NSA in 1993. This small modification was suggested by NSA two years later, with no justification other than the fact that it provides additional security. An attack for SHA-0 that does not apply to the revised algorithm was indeed found between 1998 and 2005 by academic cryptographers. Because of weaknesses and key length restrictions in SHA-1, NIST deprecates its use for digital signature
s, and approves only the newer SHA-2 algorithms for such applications from 2013 on.
A new hash standard, SHA-3, is currently under development. An ongoing competition
, closely resembling the successful AES process, will select the function used by the standard and is scheduled to end in 2012.
in the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology
's 2007 guidelines. This led to speculation of a backdoor which would allow NSA access to data encrypted by systems using that random number generator.
block ciphers were voluntarily withheld in response to an NSA request to do so.
operating systems. Some universities that do highly-sensitive research are allowed to connect to it. In 1998 it, along with NIPRNET
and SIPRNET
, had "significant problems with poor search capabilities, unorganized data and old information". In 2001 it was reported on the PR Newswire
that NSA bought Auto-Trol's product KONFIG® NM to help "document and manage" NSANet.
from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under gag order
. Unlike normal patents, these are not revealed to the public and do not expire. However, if the Patent Office receives an application for an identical patent from a third party, they will reveal NSA's patent and officially grant it to NSA for the full term on that date.
One of NSA's published patents describes a method of geographically locating
an individual computer site in an Internet-like network, based on the latency
of multiple network connections.
(Government Communications Headquarters
), Canada
(Communications Security Establishment
), Australia
(Defence Signals Directorate
), and New Zealand
(Government Communications Security Bureau
), otherwise known as the UKUSA group, is widely reported to be in command of the operation of the so-called 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, according to a December 16, 2005 article in the New York Times.
Technically, almost all modern telephone, internet, fax and satellite communications are exploitable due to recent advances in technology and the 'open air' nature of much of the radio communications around the world.
NSA's presumed collection operations have generated much criticism, possibly stemming from the assumption that NSA/CSS represents an infringement of Americans' privacy
. However, NSA's United States Signals Intelligence Directive 18 (USSID 18) strictly prohibits the interception or collection of information about "... U.S. persons, entities, corporations or organizations...." without explicit written legal permission from the United States Attorney General
when the subject is located abroad, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court when within U.S. Borders. The U.S. Supreme Court
has ruled that intelligence agencies cannot conduct surveillance against American citizens. There are a few extreme circumstances where collecting on a U.S. entity
is allowed without a USSID 18 waiver, such as with civilian distress signals, or sudden emergencies such as the September 11, 2001 attacks
; however, the USA PATRIOT Act
has significantly changed privacy legality.
There have been alleged violations of USSID 18 that occurred in violation of NSA's strict charter prohibiting such acts. In addition, ECHELON is considered with indignation by citizens of countries outside the UKUSA alliance, with numerous allegations that the United States government uses it for motives other than its national security, including political
and industrial espionage
. Examples include the gear-less wind turbine
technology designed by the German firm Enercon
and the speech technology developed by the Belgian firm Lernout & Hauspie
. An article in the Baltimore Sun reported in 1995 that aerospace company Airbus
lost a $6 billion contract with Saudi Arabia
in 1994 after NSA reported that Airbus officials had been bribing Saudi officials to secure the contract.
, is to collect information that constitutes "foreign intelligence or counterintelligence" while not "acquiring information concerning the domestic activities of United States persons". NSA has declared that it relies on the FBI to collect information on foreign intelligence activities within the borders of the USA, while confining its own activities within the USA to the embassies and missions of foreign nations.
NSA's domestic surveillance activities are limited by the requirements imposed by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; however, these protections do not apply to non-U.S. persons located outside of U.S. borders, so the NSA's foreign surveillance efforts are subject to far fewer limitations under U.S. law. The specific requirements for domestic surveillance operations are contained in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978
(FISA), which does not extend protection to non-U.S. citizens located outside of U.S. territory.
These activities, especially the publicly acknowledged domestic telephone tapping and call database programs, have prompted questions about the extent of the NSA's activities and concerns about threats to privacy and the rule of law.
In the years after President Richard Nixon
resigned, there were several investigations of suspected misuse of Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) and NSA facilities. Senator Frank Church
headed a Senate investigating committee (the Church Committee
) which uncovered previously unknown activity, such as a CIA plot (ordered by President John F. Kennedy
) to assassinate Fidel Castro
. The investigation also uncovered NSA's wiretaps on targeted American citizens. After the Church Committee hearings, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978
became law, limiting circumstances under which domestic surveillance was allowed.
NSA created new IT systems to deal with the flood of information from new technologies like the internet and cellphones.
ThinThread
contained advanced data mining
capabilities. It also had a 'privacy mechanism'; surveillance was stored encrypted; decryption required a warrant. The research done under this program may have contributed to the technology used in later systems. Thinthread was cancelled when Michael Hayden chose Trailblazer
, which did not include Thinthread's privacy system.
Trailblazer Project
ramped up circa 2000. SAIC
, Boeing
, CSC
, IBM
, and Litton
worked on it. Some NSA whistleblower
s complained internally about major problems surrounding Trailblazer. This led to investigations by Congress and the NSA and DoD Inspectors General. The project was cancelled circa 2003-4; it was late, overbudget, and didn't do what it was supposed to do. The Baltimore Sun ran articles about this in 2006-07. The government then raided the whistleblower's houses. One of them, Thomas Drake
, was charged with in 2010, part of Obama's unusual use of espionage law against leakers and whistleblowers.
Turbulence
started circa 2005. It was developed in small, inexpensive 'test' pieces rather than one grand plan like Trailblazer. It also included offensive cyber-warfare capabilities, like injecting malware
into remote computers. Congress criticized Turbulence in 2007 for having similar bureaucratic problems as Trailblazer.
On December 16, 2005, the New York Times reported that, under White House
pressure and with an executive order from President George W. Bush
, the National Security Agency, in an attempt to thwart terrorism
, had been tapping the telephones
of select individuals in the U.S. calling persons outside the country, without obtaining warrant
s from the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
, a secret court created for that purpose under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
One such surveillance program, authorized by the U.S. Signals Intelligence Directive 18 of President George Bush, was the Highlander Project undertaken for the National Security Agency by the U.S. Army 513th Military Intelligence Brigade. NSA relayed telephone (including cell phone) conversations obtained from both ground, airborne, and satellite monitoring stations to various U.S. Army Signal Intelligence Officers, including the 201st Military Intelligence Battalion. Conversations of citizens of the U.S. were intercepted, along with those of other nations.
Proponents of the surveillance program claim that the President has executive authority
to order such action, arguing that laws such as FISA are overridden by the President's Constitutional powers. In addition, some argued that FISA was implicitly overridden by a subsequent statute, the Authorization for Use of Military Force
, although the Supreme Court's ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
deprecates this view. In the August 2006 case ACLU v. NSA
, U.S. District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor
concluded that NSA's warrantless surveillance program was both illegal and unconstitutional. On July 6, 2007 the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Judge Taylor's ruling, reversing her findings.
In May 2006, Mark Klein
, a former AT&T
employee, alleged that his company had cooperated with NSA in installing hardware to monitor network communications including traffic between American citizens.
The New York Times reported in 2009 that the NSA is intercepting communications of American citizens including a Congressman, although the Justice Department
believed that the NSA had corrected its errors. United States Attorney General Eric Holder
resumed the wiretapping according to his understanding of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 which Congress passed in July 2008 but without explaining what had occurred.
.
. Investigations by the House Un-American Activities Committee
and a special subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee revealed severe cases of ignorance in personnel security regulations, prompting the former personnel director and the director of security to step down and leading to the adoption of stricter security practices. Nonetheless, security breaches reoccurred only a year later when in an issue of Izvestia
of July 23, 1963, a former NSA employee published several cryptologic secrets. The very same day, an NSA clerk-messenger committed suicide as ongoing investigations disclosed that he had sold secret information to the Soviets on a regular basis. The reluctance of Congressional houses to look into these affairs had prompted a journalist to write "If a similar series of tragic blunders occurred in any ordinary agency of Government an aroused public would insist that those responsible be officially censured, demoted, or fired." David Kahn criticized the NSA's tactics of concealing its doings as smug and the Congress' blind faith in the agency's right-doing as shortsighted, and pointed out the necessity of surveillance by the Congress to prevent abuse of power.
The number of exemptions from legal requirements has also been criticized. When in 1964 the Congress was hearing a bill giving the director of the NSA the power to fire at will any employee, the Washington Post wrote: "This is the very definition of arbitrariness. It means that an employee could be discharged and disgraced on the basis of anonymous allegations without the slightest opportunity to defend himself." Yet, the bill was accepted with overwhelming majority.
On January 17, 2006, the Center for Constitutional Rights
filed a lawsuit, CCR v. Bush
, against the George W. Bush
Presidency. The lawsuit challenged the National Security Agency's (NSA's) surveillance of people within the U.S., including the interception of CCR emails without securing a warrant first.
NSA is responsible for the encryption-related components in these systems:
NSA has specified Suite A and Suite B cryptographic algorithm suites to be used in U.S. government systems; the Suite B algorithms are a subset of those previously specified by NIST
and are expected to serve for most information protection purposes, while the Suite A algorithms are secret and are intended for especially high levels of protection.
Central Security Service
The Central Security Service is an agency of the United States Department of Defense, established in 1972 by a Presidential Directive to promote full partnership between the National Security Agency and the Service Cryptologic Elements of the United States Armed Forces.-Organization:The blue...
(NSA/CSS) is a cryptologic intelligence
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
agency of the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S. government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
communications and information systems
Information systems
Information Systems is an academic/professional discipline bridging the business field and the well-defined computer science field that is evolving toward a new scientific area of study...
, which involves cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information that is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves knowing how the system works and finding a secret key...
and cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
.
The NSA is directed by at least a lieutenant general
Lieutenant General (United States)
In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...
or vice admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
. NSA is a key component of the U.S. Intelligence Community
United States Intelligence Community
The United States Intelligence Community is a cooperative federation of 16 separate United States government agencies that work separately and together to conduct intelligence activities considered necessary for the conduct of foreign relations and the protection of the national security of the...
, which is headed by the Director of National Intelligence. The Central Security Service
Central Security Service
The Central Security Service is an agency of the United States Department of Defense, established in 1972 by a Presidential Directive to promote full partnership between the National Security Agency and the Service Cryptologic Elements of the United States Armed Forces.-Organization:The blue...
is a co-located agency created to coordinate intelligence activities and co-operation between NSA and other U.S. military cryptanalysis agencies. The Director of the National Security Agency
Director of the National Security Agency
The Director of the National Security Agency is the highest-ranking official in the National Security Agency, which is a Defense Agency within the U.S. Department of Defense. The Director of the NSA also concurrently serves as Chief of the Central Security Service and as Commander of U.S. Cyber...
serves as the Commander of the United States Cyber Command
United States Cyber Command
United States Cyber Command is an armed forces sub-unified command subordinate to United States Strategic Command. The command is located in Fort Meade, Maryland and led by General Keith B. Alexander. USCYBERCOM centralizes command of cyberspace operations, organizes existing cyber resources and...
and Chief of the Central Security Service
Central Security Service
The Central Security Service is an agency of the United States Department of Defense, established in 1972 by a Presidential Directive to promote full partnership between the National Security Agency and the Service Cryptologic Elements of the United States Armed Forces.-Organization:The blue...
.
By law, NSA's intelligence gathering is limited to foreign communications, although domestic incidents such as the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy
NSA warrantless surveillance controversy
The NSA warrantless surveillance controversy concerns surveillance of persons within the United States during the collection of foreign intelligence by the U.S. National Security Agency as part of the war on terror...
have occurred.
Organization
The National Security Agency is divided into two major missions: the Signals Intelligence Directorate (SID), which produces foreign signals intelligence information, and the Information Assurance Directorate (IAD), which protects U.S. information systems.Role
NSA's eavesdroppingEavesdropping
Eavesdropping is the act of secretly listening to the private conversation of others without their consent, as defined by Black's Law Dictionary...
mission includes radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
, both from various organizations and individuals, the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, telephone calls, and other intercepted forms of communication. Its secure communications mission includes military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
, diplomatic
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
, and all other sensitive, confidential or secret government communications. It has been described as the world's largest single employer of mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
s, and the owner of the single largest group of supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
s, but it has tried to keep a low profile. For many years, its existence was not acknowledged by the U.S. government, earning it the nickname, "No Such Agency" (NSA). It was also quipped that their motto is "Never Say Anything".
According to the Washington Post, "[e]very day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communications. The NSA sorts a fraction of those into 70 separate databases."
Because of its listening task, NSA/CSS has been heavily involved in cryptanalytic
Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information that is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves knowing how the system works and finding a secret key...
research, continuing the work of predecessor agencies which had broken many World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
code
Code (cryptography)
In cryptography, a code is a method used to transform a message into an obscured form, preventing those who do not possess special information, or key, required to apply the transform from understanding what is actually transmitted. The usual method is to use a codebook with a list of common...
s and cipher
Cipher
In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is encipherment. In non-technical usage, a “cipher” is the same thing as a “code”; however, the concepts...
s (see, for instance, Purple, Venona project
Venona project
The VENONA project was a long-running secret collaboration of the United States and United Kingdom intelligence agencies involving cryptanalysis of messages sent by intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union, the majority during World War II...
, and JN-25
JN-25
The vulnerability of Japanese naval codes and ciphers was crucial to the conduct of World War II, and had an important influence on foreign relations between Japan and the west in the years leading up to the war as well...
).
In 2004, NSA Central Security Service
Central Security Service
The Central Security Service is an agency of the United States Department of Defense, established in 1972 by a Presidential Directive to promote full partnership between the National Security Agency and the Service Cryptologic Elements of the United States Armed Forces.-Organization:The blue...
and the National Cyber Security Division
National Cyber Security Division
The National Cyber Security Division is a division of the Office of Cyber Security & Communications, within the United States Department of Homeland Security's Directorate for National Protection and Programs...
of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agreed to expand NSA Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education Program.
As part of the National Security Presidential Directive
Presidential directive
Presidential Directives, better known as Presidential Decision Directives or PDD are a form of an executive order issued by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the National Security Council...
54/Homeland Security Presidential Directive 23 (NSPD 54), signed on January 8, 2008 by President Bush, the NSA became the lead agency to monitor and protect all of the federal government's computer networks from cyber-terrorism
Cyber-terrorism
Cyberterrorism is the use of Internet based attacks in terrorist activities, including acts of deliberate, large-scale disruption of computer networks, especially of personal computers attached to the Internet, by the means of tools such as computer viruses....
. In 2010, Robert Gates called for DHS to have a "cell" that would be able to apply the full surveillance powers of NSA for domestic cyber security.
Facilities
Fort George G. Meade
Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation that includes the Defense Information School, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the National Security Agency, and the Defense Courier Service...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, about 15 mi (24.1 km) southwest of Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
. The NSA has its own exit off Maryland Route 295 South labeled "NSA Employees Only." The scale of the operations at the NSA is hard to determine from unclassified data; some 18,000 parking spaces are visible in photos of the site. In 2006, the Baltimore Sun reported that the NSA was at risk of electrical overload because of insufficient internal electrical infrastructure at Fort Meade to support the amount of equipment being installed. This problem was apparently recognized in the 1990s but not made a priority, and "now the agency's ability to keep its operations going is threatened."
Its secure government communications work has involved the NSA in numerous technology areas, including the design of specialized communications hardware and software, production of dedicated semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
s (at the Ft. Meade
Fort Meade, Maryland
Fort Meade is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 9,882 at the 2000 census. It is the home to the National Security Agency, which is located on the US Army post Fort George G...
chip fabrication plant), and advanced cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
research. The agency contracts with the private sector in the fields of research and equipment.
In addition to its Ft. Meade headquarters, the NSA has facilities at the Texas Cryptology Center
Texas Cryptology Center
The United States National Security Agency has a satellite campus at the Medina Annex, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, which some in the media have called the Texas Cryptology Center...
in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
; at Fort Gordon
Fort Gordon
Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in 1917. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps and Signal Center and was once the home of "The Provost Marshal General School" . The fort is located in Richmond, Jefferson, McDuffie,...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, and elsewhere.
On January 6, 2011 a groundbreaking ceremony was held to begin construction on the NSA's first Comprehensive National Cyber-security Initiative (CNCI) Data Center; the "Utah Data Center" for short. The USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
$1.5 billion data center is being built at Camp Williams
Camp W. G. Williams
Camp W. G. Williams, also known as Army Garrison Camp Williams, is a National Guard training site operated by the Utah National Guard. It is located south of Bluffdale, west of Lehi, and north of Saratoga Springs and Cedar Fort, approximately south of Salt Lake City, straddling the border between...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, located 25 miles (40.2 km) miles south of Salt Lake City. The data center will help support the agency's National Cyber-security Initiative.
National Computer Security Center
The National Computer Security Center, once part of the National Security Agency, was established in 1981 and was responsible for testing and evaluating computer equipment for use in high security and/or confidential applications. NCSC was also responsible for publishing the Orange BookTrusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria
Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria is a United States Government Department of Defense standard that sets basic requirements for assessing the effectiveness of computer security controls built into a computer system...
and Trusted Network Interpretation (Red Book)
Rainbow Series
The Rainbow Series is a series of computer security standards and guidelines published by the United States government in the 1980s and 1990s. They were originally published by the U.S...
detailing trusted computing and network platform specifications. The two works are more formally known as the Trusted Computing System Evaluation Criteria and Trusted Network Interpretation, part of the Rainbow Series
Rainbow Series
The Rainbow Series is a series of computer security standards and guidelines published by the United States government in the 1980s and 1990s. They were originally published by the U.S...
, however, they have largely been replaced by the Common Criteria
Common Criteria
The Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation is an international standard for computer security certification...
.
History
The National Security Agency's predecessor was the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA), created on May 20, 1949. This organization was originally established within the U.S. Department of DefenseUnited States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
under the command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...
. The AFSA was to direct the communications and electronic intelligence activities of the U.S. military intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
units: the Army Security Agency, the Naval Security Group
Naval Security Group
The Naval Security Group was an organization within the United States Navy, tasked with intelligence gathering and denial of intelligence to adversaries. A large part of this is Signals Intelligence gathering, Cryptology and Information Assurance...
, and the Air Force Security Service. However, that agency had little power and lacked a centralized coordination mechanism. The creation of NSA resulted from a December 10, 1951, memo sent by Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) Director Walter Bedell Smith
Walter Bedell Smith
Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith was a senior United States Army general who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forces Headquarters during the Tunisia Campaign and the Allied invasion of Italy...
to James S. 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 NSA was extended beyond the armed forces.
The creation of NSA was authorized in a letter written by President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
in June 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
Classified information
Classified information is sensitive information to which access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of persons. A formal security clearance is required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation...
and remained unknown to the public for more than a generation. A brief but vague reference to the NSA first appeared in the United States Government Organization Manual from 1957, which described it as "a separately organized agency within the Department of Defense under the direction, authority, and control of the Secretary of Defense [...] for the performance of highly specialized technical functions in support of the intelligence activities of the United States."
National Cryptologic Memorial
Crews associated with NSA missions have been involved in a number of dangerous and deadly situations. The well known USS Liberty incident
USS Liberty incident
The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship, , by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy torpedo boats, on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War. The combined air and sea attack killed 34 crew members , wounded 170 crew members, and...
in 1967 and USS Pueblo
USS Pueblo (AGER-2)
USS Pueblo is an American ELINT and SIGINT Banner-class technical research ship which was boarded and captured by North Korean forces on January 23, 1968, in what is known as the Pueblo incident or alternatively as the Pueblo crisis or the Pueblo affair. Occurring less than a week after President...
incident in 1968 are a small sample of the losses endured during the Cold War.
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service Cryptologic Memorial honors and remembers the fallen personnel, both military and civilian, of these intelligence missions. It is made of black granite, and has 163 names (as of 2011) carved into it. It is located at NSA headquarters. A tradition of declassifying the stories of the fallen was begun in 2001.
Insignia
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
facing its right, grasping a key in its talons, representing NSA's clutch on security as well as the mission to protect and gain access to secrets. The eagle is set on a background of blue and its breast features a blue shield supported by 13 bands of red and white. The surrounding white circular border features "National Security Agency" around the top and "United States of America" underneath, with two five-pointed silver stars between the two phrases. The current NSA insignia has been in use since 1965, when then-Director
Director of the National Security Agency
The Director of the National Security Agency is the highest-ranking official in the National Security Agency, which is a Defense Agency within the U.S. Department of Defense. The Director of the NSA also concurrently serves as Chief of the Central Security Service and as Commander of U.S. Cyber...
, LTG Marshall S. Carter
Marshall Carter
Marshall Sylvester Carter was a lieutenant general in the United States Army.-Biography:...
(USA
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
) ordered the creation of a device to represent the Agency.
Effect on non-governmental cryptography
NSA has been involved in debates about public policy, both indirectly as a behind-the-scenes adviser to other departments, and directly during and after Vice Admiral Bobby Ray InmanBobby Ray Inman
Bobby Ray Inman is a retired United States admiral who held several influential positions in the U.S. Intelligence community.-Career:...
's directorship. NSA was a major player in the debates of the 1990s regarding the export of cryptography
Export of cryptography
The export of cryptography in the United States is the transfer from the United States to another country of devices and technology related to cryptography....
. Restrictions on export were reduced but not eliminated in 1996.
Data Encryption Standard
NSA was embroiled in some minor controversy concerning its involvement in the creation of the Data Encryption Standard (DES), a standard and public block cipherBlock cipher
In cryptography, a block cipher is a symmetric key cipher operating on fixed-length groups of bits, called blocks, with an unvarying transformation. A block cipher encryption algorithm might take a 128-bit block of plaintext as input, and output a corresponding 128-bit block of ciphertext...
algorithm
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
used by the U.S. government and banking community. During the development of DES by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
in the 1970s, NSA recommended changes to some details of the design. There was suspicion that these changes had weakened the algorithm sufficiently to enable the agency to eavesdrop if required, including speculation that a critical component—the so-called S-box
Substitution box
In cryptography, an S-Box is a basic component of symmetric key algorithms which performs substitution. In block ciphers, they are typically used to obscure the relationship between the key and the ciphertext — Shannon's property of confusion...
es—had been altered to insert a "backdoor" and that the reduction in key length might have made it feasible for NSA to discover DES keys using massive computing power. It has since been observed that the S-boxes in DES are particularly resilient against differential cryptanalysis
Differential cryptanalysis
Differential cryptanalysis is a general form of cryptanalysis applicable primarily to block ciphers, but also to stream ciphers and cryptographic hash functions. In the broadest sense, it is the study of how differences in an input can affect the resultant difference at the output...
, a technique which was not publicly discovered until the late 1980s, but which was known to the IBM DES team. The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of the United States who provide information and analysis for leaders of the executive and legislative branches. The...
reviewed NSA's involvement, and concluded that while the agency had provided some assistance, it had not tampered with the design. In late 2009 NSA declassified information stating that "NSA worked closely with IBM to strengthen the algorithm against all except brute force attacks and to strengthen substitution tables, called S-boxes. Conversely, NSA tried to convince IBM to reduce the length of the key from 64 to 48 bits. Ultimately they compromised on a 56-bit key."
Clipper chip
Because of concerns that widespread use of strong cryptography would hamper government use of wiretapTelephone tapping
Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
s, NSA proposed the concept of key escrow
Key escrow
Key escrow is an arrangement in which the keys needed to decrypt encrypted data are held in escrow so that, under certain circumstances, an authorized third party may gain access to those keys...
in 1993 and introduced the Clipper chip that would offer stronger protection than DES but would allow access to encrypted data by authorized law enforcement officials. The proposal was strongly opposed and key escrow requirements ultimately went nowhere. However, NSA's Fortezza
Fortezza
Fortezza is an information security system based on a PC Card security token. Each individual who is authorized to see protected information is issued a Fortezza card that stores private keys and other data needed to gain access...
hardware-based encryption cards, created for the Clipper project, are still used within government, and NSA ultimately published the design of the SKIPJACK cipher
Skipjack (cipher)
In cryptography, Skipjack is a block cipher—an algorithm for encryption—developed by the U.S. National Security Agency . Initially classified, it was originally intended for use in the controversial Clipper chip...
(but not the key exchange protocol) used on the cards.
Advanced Encryption Standard
Possibly because of previous controversy, the involvement of NSA in the selection of a successor to DES, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), was initially limited to hardwareHardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
performance testing (see AES competition
Advanced Encryption Standard process
The Advanced Encryption Standard , the block cipher ratified as a standard by National Institute of Standards and Technology of the United States , was chosen using a process markedly more open and transparent than its predecessor, the aging Data Encryption Standard...
). NSA has subsequently certified AES for protection of classified information (for at most two levels, e.g. SECRET information in an unclassified environment) when used in NSA-approved systems.
SHA
The widely-used SHA-1 and SHA-2SHA-2
In cryptography, SHA-2 is a set of cryptographic hash functions designed by the National Security Agency and published in 2001 by the NIST as a U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard. SHA stands for Secure Hash Algorithm. SHA-2 includes a significant number of changes from its predecessor,...
hash functions were designed by NSA. SHA-1 is a slight modification of the weaker SHA-0 algorithm, also designed by NSA in 1993. This small modification was suggested by NSA two years later, with no justification other than the fact that it provides additional security. An attack for SHA-0 that does not apply to the revised algorithm was indeed found between 1998 and 2005 by academic cryptographers. Because of weaknesses and key length restrictions in SHA-1, NIST deprecates its use for digital signature
Digital signature
A digital signature or digital signature scheme is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document. A valid digital signature gives a recipient reason to believe that the message was created by a known sender, and that it was not altered in transit...
s, and approves only the newer SHA-2 algorithms for such applications from 2013 on.
A new hash standard, SHA-3, is currently under development. An ongoing competition
NIST hash function competition
The NIST hash function competition is an open competition held by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology for a new SHA-3 function to replace the older SHA-1 and SHA-2, which was formally announced in the Federal Register on November 2, 2007...
, closely resembling the successful AES process, will select the function used by the standard and is scheduled to end in 2012.
Dual EC DRBG random number generator
NSA promoted the inclusion of a random number generator called Dual EC DRBGDual EC DRBG
Dual_EC_DRBG or Dual Elliptic Curve Deterministic Random Bit Generator is a controversial pseudorandom number generator designed and published by the National Security Agency. It is based on the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem and is one of the four PRNGs standardized in the NIST...
in the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
's 2007 guidelines. This led to speculation of a backdoor which would allow NSA access to data encrypted by systems using that random number generator.
Academic research
NSA has invested many millions of dollars in academic research under grant code prefix MDA904, resulting in over 3,000 papers (as of 2007-10-11). NSA/CSS has, at times, attempted to restrict the publication of academic research into cryptography; for example, the Khufu and KhafreKhufu and Khafre
In cryptography, Khufu and Khafre are two block ciphers designed by Ralph Merkle in 1989 while working at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center...
block ciphers were voluntarily withheld in response to an NSA request to do so.
NSANet
NSANet is the official National Security Agency intranet. It is a classified internal network, and TS/SCI. In 2004 it was reported to have used over twenty commercial off-the-shelfCommercial off-the-shelf
In the United States, Commercially available Off-The-Shelf is a Federal Acquisition Regulation term defining a nondevelopmental item of supply that is both commercial and sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace, and that can be procured or utilized under government contract...
operating systems. Some universities that do highly-sensitive research are allowed to connect to it. In 1998 it, along with NIPRNET
NIPRNet
The Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Network is used to exchange sensitive but unclassified information between "internal" users as well as providing users access to the Internet. NIPRNet is composed of Internet Protocol routers owned by the United States Department of Defense...
and SIPRNET
SIPRNet
The Secret Internet Protocol Router Network is "a system of interconnected computer networks used by the United States Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State to transmit classified information by packet switching over the TCP/IP protocols in a 'completely secure' environment"...
, had "significant problems with poor search capabilities, unorganized data and old information". In 2001 it was reported on the PR Newswire
PR Newswire
PR Newswire started out in 1954 as a vendor hired by companies and agencies to send out text press releases to the media. Today, PR Newswire is hired by corporations, public relations firms and non-governmental organizations to deliver news and multimedia content...
that NSA bought Auto-Trol's product KONFIG® NM to help "document and manage" NSANet.
Patents
NSA has the ability to file for a patentPatent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under gag order
Gag order
A gag order is an order, sometimes a legal order by a court or government, other times a private order by an employer or other institution, restricting information or comment from being made public.Gag orders are often used against participants involved in a lawsuit or criminal trial...
. Unlike normal patents, these are not revealed to the public and do not expire. However, if the Patent Office receives an application for an identical patent from a third party, they will reveal NSA's patent and officially grant it to NSA for the full term on that date.
One of NSA's published patents describes a method of geographically locating
Geolocation
Geolocation is the identification of the real-world geographic location of an object, such as a radar, mobile phone or an Internet-connected computer terminal...
an individual computer site in an Internet-like network, based on the latency
Lag
Lag is a common word meaning to fail to keep up or to fall behind. In real-time applications, the term is used when the application fails to respond in a timely fashion to inputs...
of multiple network connections.
ECHELON
NSA/CSS, in combination with the equivalent agencies in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(Government Communications Headquarters
Government Communications Headquarters
The Government Communications Headquarters is a British intelligence agency responsible for providing signals intelligence and information assurance to the UK government and armed forces...
), Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(Communications Security Establishment
Communications Security Establishment
The Communications Security Establishment Canada is the Canadian government's national cryptologic agency. Administered under the Department of National Defence , it is charged with the duty of keeping track of foreign signals intelligence , and protecting Canadian government electronic...
), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(Defence Signals Directorate
Defence Signals Directorate
Defence Signals Directorate is an Australian government intelligence agency responsible for signals intelligence and information security .-Overview:According to its website, DSD has two principal functions:...
), and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
(Government Communications Security Bureau
Government Communications Security Bureau
The Government Communications Security Bureau is an intelligence agency of the New Zealand government.The mission statement is given as:To contribute to the national security of New Zealand through:...
), otherwise known as the UKUSA group, is widely reported to be in command of the operation of the so-called ECHELON
ECHELON
ECHELON is a name used in global media and in popular culture to describe a signals intelligence collection and analysis network operated on behalf of the five signatory states to the UK–USA Security Agreement...
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, according to a December 16, 2005 article in the New York Times.
Technically, almost all modern telephone, internet, fax and satellite communications are exploitable due to recent advances in technology and the 'open air' nature of much of the radio communications around the world.
NSA's presumed collection operations have generated much criticism, possibly stemming from the assumption that NSA/CSS represents an infringement of Americans' privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
. However, NSA's United States Signals Intelligence Directive 18 (USSID 18) strictly prohibits the interception or collection of information about "... U.S. persons, entities, corporations or organizations...." without explicit written legal permission from the United States Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
when the subject is located abroad, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court when within U.S. Borders. The U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
has ruled that intelligence agencies cannot conduct surveillance against American citizens. There are a few extreme circumstances where collecting on a U.S. entity
United States entity
United States entity is a designation given to some entities , e.g. for International Traffic in Arms Regulations purposes:For purposes of the preceding paragraph, a U.S. entity is a firm incorporated in the United States that is controlled by U.S. citizens or by another U.S...
is allowed without a USSID 18 waiver, such as with civilian distress signals, or sudden emergencies such as the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
; however, the USA PATRIOT Act
USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...
has significantly changed privacy legality.
There have been alleged violations of USSID 18 that occurred in violation of NSA's strict charter prohibiting such acts. In addition, ECHELON is considered with indignation by citizens of countries outside the UKUSA alliance, with numerous allegations that the United States government uses it for motives other than its national security, including political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and industrial espionage
Industrial espionage
Industrial espionage, economic espionage or corporate espionage is a form of espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of purely national security purposes...
. Examples include the gear-less wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
technology designed by the German firm Enercon
Enercon
Enercon GmbH, based in Aurich, Germany, is the fourth-largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world and has been the market leader in Germany since the mid-nineties. Enercon has production facilities in Germany , Sweden, Brazil, India, Canada, Turkey and Portugal...
and the speech technology developed by the Belgian firm Lernout & Hauspie
Lernout & Hauspie
Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products, or L&H, was a leading Belgium-based speech recognition technology company, founded by Jo Lernout and Pol Hauspie, that went bankrupt in 2001...
. An article in the Baltimore Sun reported in 1995 that aerospace company Airbus
Airbus
Airbus SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blagnac, France, surburb of Toulouse, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners....
lost a $6 billion contract with Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
in 1994 after NSA reported that Airbus officials had been bribing Saudi officials to secure the contract.
Domestic activity
NSA's mission, as set forth in Executive Order 12333Executive Order 12333
On December 4, 1981 President Ronald Reagan signedExecutive Order 12333,an Executive Order intended toextend powers and responsibilities of US intelligence agencies and direct the leaders of U.S...
, is to collect information that constitutes "foreign intelligence or counterintelligence" while not "acquiring information concerning the domestic activities of United States persons". NSA has declared that it relies on the FBI to collect information on foreign intelligence activities within the borders of the USA, while confining its own activities within the USA to the embassies and missions of foreign nations.
NSA's domestic surveillance activities are limited by the requirements imposed by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; however, these protections do not apply to non-U.S. persons located outside of U.S. borders, so the NSA's foreign surveillance efforts are subject to far fewer limitations under U.S. law. The specific requirements for domestic surveillance operations are contained in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978
America's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 is an Act of Congress, , which prescribes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign powers" and "agents of foreign powers" America's Foreign Intelligence...
(FISA), which does not extend protection to non-U.S. citizens located outside of U.S. territory.
These activities, especially the publicly acknowledged domestic telephone tapping and call database programs, have prompted questions about the extent of the NSA's activities and concerns about threats to privacy and the rule of law.
Domestic wiretapping under Richard Nixon
In the years after President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
resigned, there were several investigations of suspected misuse of Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) and NSA facilities. Senator Frank Church
Frank Church
Frank Forrester Church III was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Idaho from 1957 to 1981....
headed a Senate investigating committee (the Church Committee
Church Committee
The Church Committee is the common term referring to the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, a U.S. Senate committee chaired by Senator Frank Church in 1975. A precursor to the U.S...
) which uncovered previously unknown activity, such as a CIA plot (ordered by President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
) to assassinate Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
. The investigation also uncovered NSA's wiretaps on targeted American citizens. After the Church Committee hearings, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978
America's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 is an Act of Congress, , which prescribes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign powers" and "agents of foreign powers" America's Foreign Intelligence...
became law, limiting circumstances under which domestic surveillance was allowed.
IT projects: ThinThread, Trailblazer, Turbulence
NSA created new IT systems to deal with the flood of information from new technologies like the internet and cellphones.
ThinThread
ThinThread
ThinThread is the name of a project that the United States National Security Agency engaged in during the 1990s, according to a May 17, 2006 article in the Baltimore Sun...
contained advanced data mining
Data mining
Data mining , a relatively young and interdisciplinary field of computer science is the process of discovering new patterns from large data sets involving methods at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics and database systems...
capabilities. It also had a 'privacy mechanism'; surveillance was stored encrypted; decryption required a warrant. The research done under this program may have contributed to the technology used in later systems. Thinthread was cancelled when Michael Hayden chose Trailblazer
Trailblazer
Trailblazer may refer to:* Trail blazing, a person who marks a trail through wilderness areasIn sports:* Portland Trail Blazers, a basketball team based in Portland, Oregon* North Carolina Trailblazers, a US women's recreational ice hockey association...
, which did not include Thinthread's privacy system.
Trailblazer Project
Trailblazer Project
Trailblazer was a United States National Security Agency program intended to analyze data carried on communications networks like the internet. It was able to track communication methods such as cell phones and e-mail...
ramped up circa 2000. SAIC
SAIC
The acronym SAIC can stand for:*Science Applications International Corporation*School of the Art Institute of Chicago*Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation*Shanghai Aviation Industrial Company*Special Agent in Charge, acronym used by some U.S...
, Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
, CSC
Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...
, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, and Litton
Litton Industries
Named after inventor Charles Litton, Sr., Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States, bought by the Northrop Grumman Corporation in 2001.-History:...
worked on it. Some NSA whistleblower
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
s complained internally about major problems surrounding Trailblazer. This led to investigations by Congress and the NSA and DoD Inspectors General. The project was cancelled circa 2003-4; it was late, overbudget, and didn't do what it was supposed to do. The Baltimore Sun ran articles about this in 2006-07. The government then raided the whistleblower's houses. One of them, Thomas Drake
Thomas Andrews Drake
Thomas Andrews Drake is a former senior official of the U.S. National Security Agency , decorated United States Air Force and United States Navy veteran, computer software expert, linguist, management and leadership specialist, and whistleblower. In 2010 the government alleged that he 'mishandled'...
, was charged with in 2010, part of Obama's unusual use of espionage law against leakers and whistleblowers.
Turbulence
Turbulence (NSA)
Turbulence is a National Security Agency Information Technology project started circa 2005. It was developed in small, inexpensive "test" pieces rather than one grand plan like its failed predecessor, the Trailblazer Project. It also includes offensive cyber-warfare capabilities, like injecting...
started circa 2005. It was developed in small, inexpensive 'test' pieces rather than one grand plan like Trailblazer. It also included offensive cyber-warfare capabilities, like injecting malware
Malware
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
into remote computers. Congress criticized Turbulence in 2007 for having similar bureaucratic problems as Trailblazer.
Warrantless wiretaps under George W. Bush
On December 16, 2005, the New York Times reported that, under White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
pressure and with an executive order from President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, the National Security Agency, in an attempt to thwart terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, had been tapping the telephones
Telephone tapping
Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
of select individuals in the U.S. calling persons outside the country, without obtaining warrant
Warrant (law)
Most often, the term warrant refers to a specific type of authorization; a writ issued by a competent officer, usually a judge or magistrate, which permits an otherwise illegal act that would violate individual rights and affords the person executing the writ protection from damages if the act is...
s from the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is a U.S. federal court authorized under , . It was established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 . The FISC oversees requests for surveillance warrants against suspected foreign intelligence agents inside the United...
, a secret court created for that purpose under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
One such surveillance program, authorized by the U.S. Signals Intelligence Directive 18 of President George Bush, was the Highlander Project undertaken for the National Security Agency by the U.S. Army 513th Military Intelligence Brigade. NSA relayed telephone (including cell phone) conversations obtained from both ground, airborne, and satellite monitoring stations to various U.S. Army Signal Intelligence Officers, including the 201st Military Intelligence Battalion. Conversations of citizens of the U.S. were intercepted, along with those of other nations.
Proponents of the surveillance program claim that the President has executive authority
Unitary executive theory
The unitary executive theory is a theory of American constitutional law holding that the President controls the entire executive branch. The doctrine is based upon Article Two of the United States Constitution, which vests "the executive power" of the United States in the President.Although that...
to order such action, arguing that laws such as FISA are overridden by the President's Constitutional powers. In addition, some argued that FISA was implicitly overridden by a subsequent statute, the Authorization for Use of Military Force
Authorization for Use of Military Force
Authorization for Use of Military Force may refer to:*Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 1991 authorizing the Persian Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm: H.R.J. Res...
, although the Supreme Court's ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 , is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that military commissions set up by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay lack "the power to proceed because its structures and procedures violate both the Uniform Code of Military...
deprecates this view. In the August 2006 case ACLU v. NSA
ACLU v. NSA
American Civil Liberties Union et al., v. National Security Agency / Central et al., 493 F.3d 644 , is a case decided July 6, 2007, in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the plaintiffs in the case did not have standing to bring the suit against the NSA, because...
, U.S. District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor
Anna Diggs Taylor
Anna Diggs Taylor is a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. She graduated from Barnard College in 1954 and Yale Law School in 1957, and worked in the Office of Solicitor for the United States Department of Labor...
concluded that NSA's warrantless surveillance program was both illegal and unconstitutional. On July 6, 2007 the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Judge Taylor's ruling, reversing her findings.
AT&T Internet monitoring
In May 2006, Mark Klein
Mark Klein
Mark Klein is a former AT&T technician who leaked knowledge of his company's cooperation with the United States National Security Agency in installing network hardware to monitor and process American telecommunications...
, a former AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
employee, alleged that his company had cooperated with NSA in installing hardware to monitor network communications including traffic between American citizens.
Wiretapping under Barack Obama
The New York Times reported in 2009 that the NSA is intercepting communications of American citizens including a Congressman, although the Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
believed that the NSA had corrected its errors. United States Attorney General Eric Holder
Eric Holder
Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. is the 82nd and current Attorney General of the United States and the first African American to hold the position, serving under President Barack Obama....
resumed the wiretapping according to his understanding of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 which Congress passed in July 2008 but without explaining what had occurred.
Transaction data mining
NSA is reported to use its computing capability to analyze "transactional" data that it regularly acquires from other government agencies, which gather it under their own jurisdictional authorities. As part of this effort, NSA now monitors huge volumes of records of domestic emails and Internet searches as well as bank transfers, credit-card transactions and travel and telephone records, according to current and former intelligence officials interviewed by the Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
.
Criticisms
The NSA received criticism early on in 1960 after two agents had defected to the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Investigations by the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
and a special subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee revealed severe cases of ignorance in personnel security regulations, prompting the former personnel director and the director of security to step down and leading to the adoption of stricter security practices. Nonetheless, security breaches reoccurred only a year later when in an issue of Izvestia
Izvestia
Izvestia is a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia. The word "izvestiya" in Russian means "delivered messages", derived from the verb izveshchat . In the context of newspapers it is usually translated as "news" or "reports".-Origin:The newspaper began as the News of the...
of July 23, 1963, a former NSA employee published several cryptologic secrets. The very same day, an NSA clerk-messenger committed suicide as ongoing investigations disclosed that he had sold secret information to the Soviets on a regular basis. The reluctance of Congressional houses to look into these affairs had prompted a journalist to write "If a similar series of tragic blunders occurred in any ordinary agency of Government an aroused public would insist that those responsible be officially censured, demoted, or fired." David Kahn criticized the NSA's tactics of concealing its doings as smug and the Congress' blind faith in the agency's right-doing as shortsighted, and pointed out the necessity of surveillance by the Congress to prevent abuse of power.
The number of exemptions from legal requirements has also been criticized. When in 1964 the Congress was hearing a bill giving the director of the NSA the power to fire at will any employee, the Washington Post wrote: "This is the very definition of arbitrariness. It means that an employee could be discharged and disgraced on the basis of anonymous allegations without the slightest opportunity to defend himself." Yet, the bill was accepted with overwhelming majority.
On January 17, 2006, the Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Constitutional Rights
Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
filed a lawsuit, CCR v. Bush
CCR v. Bush
In CCR v. Bush the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit against the Bush Presidency, challenging the National Security Agency's surveillance of people within the United States, including the interception of CCR emails without securing a warrant first.The lawsuit was filed on January...
, against the George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
Presidency. The lawsuit challenged the National Security Agency's (NSA's) surveillance of people within the U.S., including the interception of CCR emails without securing a warrant first.
In fiction
Since the existence of the NSA has become more widely known in the past few decades, and particularly since the 1990s, the agency has regularly been portrayed in spy fiction. Many such portrayals grossly exaggerate the organization's involvement in the more sensational activities of intelligence agencies. The agency now plays a role in numerous books, films, television shows, and video games.Directors
- November 1952–November 1956 LTGLieutenant General (United States)In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...
Ralph J. Canine, USAUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services... - November 1956–November 1960 Lt Gen John A. SamfordJohn A. SamfordJohn Alexander Samford was a former director of the National Security Agency.-Biography:Samford was born at Hagerman, New Mexico, in 1905. He graduated from high school in 1922 and then spent one year at Columbia College, New York City. In 1924 he received a senatorial appointment to the U.S....
, USAFUnited States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of... - November 1960–January 1962 VADMVice AdmiralVice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
Laurence H. Frost, USNUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S... - January 1962–June 1965 Lt Gen Gordon A. Blake, USAF
- June 1965–August 1969 Lt Gen Marshall S. Carter, USA
- August 1969–August 1972 VADM Noel A. M. Gaylor, USNUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
- August 1972–August 1973 Lt Gen Samuel C. PhillipsSamuel C. PhillipsGeneral Samuel Cochran Phillips was a United States Air Force four star general who served as Director of NASA's Apollo Manned Lunar Landing Program from 1964 to 1969, the seventh Director of the National Security Agency from 1972 to 1973, and as Commander, Air Force Systems Command from 1973 to...
, USAF - August 1973–July 1977 Lt Gen Lew Allen, Jr., USAF
- July 1977–April 1981 VADM Bobby Ray InmanBobby Ray InmanBobby Ray Inman is a retired United States admiral who held several influential positions in the U.S. Intelligence community.-Career:...
, USN - April 1981–May 1985 Lt Gen Lincoln D. FaurerLincoln D. FaurerLieutenant General Lincoln D. Faurer was director of the National Security Agency and chief of the Central Security Service from 1981 to 1985.-Biography:...
, USAF - May 1985–August 1988 Lt Gen William E. Odom, USA
- August 1988–May 1992 VADM William O. Studeman, USN
- May 1992–February 1996 VADM John M. McConnellJohn M. McConnellJohn Michael "Mike" McConnell is a former vice admiral in the United States Navy. During his naval career he served as Director of the National Security Agency from 1992 to 1996...
, USN - February 1996–March 1999 Lt Gen Kenneth A. Minihan, USAF
- March 1999–April 2005 Lt Gen Michael V. Hayden, USAF
- April 2005–present GENGeneral (United States)In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...
Keith B. AlexanderKeith B. AlexanderGeneral Keith B. Alexander, USA is the current Director, National Security Agency , Chief, Central Security Service and Commander, United States Cyber Command. He previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2, U.S. Army from 2003 to 2005...
, USA
Notable cryptanalysts
- Lambros D. CallimahosLambros D. CallimahosLambros Demetrios Callimahos was a US Army cryptologist. Born in Alexandria of Greek parents, the family emigrated to the United States when he was four...
- Agnes Meyer DriscollAgnes Meyer DriscollAgnes Meyer Driscoll was, known as Miss Aggie or Madame X, an Americancryptanalyst during both World War I and World War II.-Early years:...
- William F. FriedmanWilliam F. FriedmanWilliam Frederick Friedman was a US Army cryptographer who ran the research division of the Army's Signals Intelligence Service in the 1930s, and parts of its follow-on services into the 1950s...
- Solomon KullbackSolomon KullbackSolomon Kullback was an American cryptanalyst and mathematician, who was one of the first three employees hired by William F. Friedman at the US Army's Signal Intelligence Service in the 1930s, along with Frank Rowlett and Abraham Sinkov. He went on to a long and distinguished career at SIS and...
- Robert MorrisRobert Morris (cryptographer)Robert Morris , was an American cryptographer and computer scientist. -Family and Education:Morris was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were Walter W. Morris, a salesman, and Helen Kelly Morris...
- Frank RowlettFrank RowlettFrank Byron Rowlett was an American cryptologist.Rowlett was born in Rose Hill, Virginia and attended Emory & Henry College in Emory, Virginia, where he was a member of the Beta Lambda Zeta fraternity. In 1929 he received a bachelor's degree in mathematics and chemistry...
- Abraham SinkovAbraham SinkovDr. Abraham Sinkov was a US cryptanalyst.-Biography:Sinkov, the son of immigrants from Russia, was born in Philadelphia, but grew up in Brooklyn. After graduating from Boys High School—what today would be called a "magnet school" -- he took his B.S. in mathematics from City College of New York...
- Louis W. TordellaLouis W. TordellaLouis W. Tordella was the longest serving deputy director of the NSA.Tordella was born in Garrett, Indiana, on May 1, 1911 and grew up in the Chicago environs. He displayed an early affinity for mathematics, and obtained bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in the 1930s...
- Herbert YardleyHerbert YardleyHerbert Osborne Yardley was an American cryptologist best known for his book The American Black Chamber . The title of the book refers to the Cipher Bureau, the cryptographic organization of which Yardley was the founder and head...
NSA encryption systems
- EKMSEKMSThe Electronic Key Management System system is a United States National Security Agency led program responsible for Communications Security key management, accounting and distribution...
Electronic Key Management System - FNBDT Future Narrow Band Digital Terminal
- FortezzaFortezzaFortezza is an information security system based on a PC Card security token. Each individual who is authorized to see protected information is issued a Fortezza card that stores private keys and other data needed to gain access...
encryption based on portable crypto token in PC CardPC CardIn computing, PC Card is the form factor of a peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. The PC Card standard was defined and developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association which itself was created by a number of computer industry companies in the United States...
format - KL-7KL-7The TSEC/KL-7, code named ADONIS and POLLUX, was an off-line non-reciprocal rotor encryption machine. The KL-7 had eight rotors to encrypt the text, seven of which moved in a complex pattern, controlled by notched rings. The non-moving rotor was in fourth from the left of the stack. The encrypted...
ADONIS off-line rotor encryption machine (post-WW II-1980s) - KW-26KW-26The TSEC/KW-26, code named ROMULUS, was an encryption system used by the U.S. Government and, later, by NATO countries. It was developed in the 1950s by the National Security Agency to secure fixed teleprinter circuits that operated 24 hours a day...
ROMULUS electronic in-line teletypewriter encryptor (1960s–1980s) - KW-37KW-37The KW-37, code named JASON, was an encryption system developed In the 1950s by the U.S. National Security Agency to protect fleet broadcasts of the U.S. Navy. Naval doctrine calls for warships at sea to maintain radio silence to the maximum extent possible to prevent ships from being located by...
JASON fleet broadcast encryptor (1960s–1990s) - KY-57KY-57The Speech Security Equipment , TSEC/KY-57, is a portable, tactical cryptographic device in the VINSON family, designed to provide voice encryption for a range of military communication devices such as radio or telephone....
VINSON tactical radio voice encryptor - KG-84KG-84The KG-84A and KG-84C are encryption devices developed by the U.S. National Security Agency to ensure secure transmission of digital data. The KG-84C is a Dedicated Loop Encryption Device , and both devices are General-Purpose Telegraph Encryption Equipment...
Dedicated Data Encryption/Decryption - SINCGARSSINCGARSSINCGARS is a Combat Net Radio currently used by U.S. and allied military forces. The radios, which handle voice and data communications, are designed to be reliable, secure and easily maintained...
tactical radio with cryptographically controlled frequency hopping - STESecure Terminal EquipmentSecure Terminal Equipment is the U.S. Government's current , encrypted telephone communications system for wired or "landline" communications. STE is designed to use ISDN telephone lines which offer higher speeds of up to 128k bits per second and are all digital...
secure terminal equipment - STU-IIISTU-IIISTU-III is a family of secure telephones introduced in 1987 by the NSA for use by the United States government, its contractors, and its allies. STU-III desk units look much like typical office telephones, plug into a standard telephone wall jack and can make calls to any ordinary phone user...
secure telephone unit, currently being phased out by the STESecure Terminal EquipmentSecure Terminal Equipment is the U.S. Government's current , encrypted telephone communications system for wired or "landline" communications. STE is designed to use ISDN telephone lines which offer higher speeds of up to 128k bits per second and are all digital... - TACLANETACLANEA TACLANE is a network encryption device developed by the National Security Agency to provide network communications security on Internet Protocol and Asynchronous Transfer Mode networks for the individual user or for enclaves of users at the same security level...
product line by General Dynamics C4 SystemsGeneral Dynamics C4 SystemsGeneral Dynamics C4 Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics. General Dynamics C4 Systems is a leading integrator of secure communication and information systems and technology.-History:...
NSA has specified Suite A and Suite B cryptographic algorithm suites to be used in U.S. government systems; the Suite B algorithms are a subset of those previously specified by NIST
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
and are expected to serve for most information protection purposes, while the Suite A algorithms are secret and are intended for especially high levels of protection.
Some past NSA SIGINT activities
- Gulf of Tonkin IncidentGulf of Tonkin IncidentThe Gulf of Tonkin Incident, or the USS Maddox Incident, are the names given to two incidents, one fabricated, involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin...
- Korean Air Lines Flight 007
- Operation Ivy BellsOperation Ivy BellsOperation Ivy Bells was a joint United States Navy, CIA and National Security Agency mission whose objective was to place wire taps on Soviet underwater communication lines during the Cold War.-History:...
- USS Liberty incidentUSS Liberty incidentThe USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship, , by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy torpedo boats, on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War. The combined air and sea attack killed 34 crew members , wounded 170 crew members, and...
- USS Pueblo (AGER-2)USS Pueblo (AGER-2)USS Pueblo is an American ELINT and SIGINT Banner-class technical research ship which was boarded and captured by North Korean forces on January 23, 1968, in what is known as the Pueblo incident or alternatively as the Pueblo crisis or the Pueblo affair. Occurring less than a week after President...
- VENONA projectVenona projectThe VENONA project was a long-running secret collaboration of the United States and United Kingdom intelligence agencies involving cryptanalysis of messages sent by intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union, the majority during World War II...
See also
- James BamfordJames BamfordV. James Bamford is an American bestselling author and journalist who writes about United States intelligence agencies, most notably the National Security Agency.-Biography:...
- Biometric ConsortiumBiometric ConsortiumThe Biometric Consortium is a US government sponsored consortia created by the National Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology . It serves as the US government focal point for the research, development, testing, evaluation and application of biometric-based...
- Bureau of Intelligence and ResearchBureau of Intelligence and ResearchThe Bureau of Intelligence and Research is an intelligence bureau in the U.S. State Department tasked with analyzing information. Originally founded as the Research and Analysis Branch of the Office of Strategic Services , it was transferred to the State Department at the end of World War II...
- Central Intelligence AgencyCentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
- Central Security ServiceCentral Security ServiceThe Central Security Service is an agency of the United States Department of Defense, established in 1972 by a Presidential Directive to promote full partnership between the National Security Agency and the Service Cryptologic Elements of the United States Armed Forces.-Organization:The blue...
- Counterintelligence Field ActivityCounterintelligence Field ActivityCounterintelligence Field Activity was a United States Department of Defense agency whose size and budget were classified. The CIFA was created by a directive from the Secretary of Defense on February 19, 2002...
- Cryptographic QuarterlyCryptographic QuarterlyThe Cryptographic Quarterly is an internal, classified journal of the U.S. National Security Agency .In 2003, Michael Ravnitzky submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for an index of articles published in their Cryptographic Quarterly journal. Three years later in 2006, the NSA...
- Defense Intelligence AgencyDefense Intelligence AgencyThe Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
- Defence Signals DirectorateDefence Signals DirectorateDefence Signals Directorate is an Australian government intelligence agency responsible for signals intelligence and information security .-Overview:According to its website, DSD has two principal functions:...
- Diplomatic Security ServiceDiplomatic Security ServiceThe U.S. Diplomatic Security Service is the federal law enforcement arm of the United States Department of State. The majority of its Special Agents are members of the Foreign Service and federal law enforcement agents at the same time, making them unique...
- EspionageEspionageEspionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
- Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
- Federal law enforcement in the United States
- Government Communications HeadquartersGovernment Communications HeadquartersThe Government Communications Headquarters is a British intelligence agency responsible for providing signals intelligence and information assurance to the UK government and armed forces...
- Martin and Mitchell DefectionMartin and Mitchell DefectionThe Martin and Mitchell Defection occurred in September 1960 when two National Security Agency cryptologists, William Hamilton Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell, defected to the Soviet Union...
- Narus (company)
- National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyNational Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyThe National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States with the primary mission of collecting, analyzing and distributing geospatial intelligence in support of national security. NGA was formerly known as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency ...
- National Reconnaissance OfficeNational Reconnaissance OfficeThe National Reconnaissance Office , located in Chantilly, Virginia, is one of the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies. It designs, builds, and operates the spy satellites of the United States government.-Mission:...
- National Security Whistleblowers CoalitionNational Security Whistleblowers CoalitionThe National Security Whistleblowers Coalition , founded in 2004 by former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds in league with over 50 former and current United States government officials from more than a dozen agencies, is an independent, nonpartisan alliance of whistleblowers who have come forward to...
- Non-commissioned officerNon-commissioned officerA non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
- NSA Hall of HonorNSA Hall of HonorThe Hall of Honor is a memorial at the National Security Agency headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. It honors individuals who rendered distinguished service to American cryptology.-The Hall of Honor:...
- Ronald PeltonRonald PeltonRonald William Pelton was an National Security Agency intelligence analyst who was convicted in 1986 of spying for and selling secrets to the Soviet Union. He reportedly has a photographic memory as he passed no documents to the Soviets...
- Project SHAMROCKProject SHAMROCKProject SHAMROCK, considered to be the sister project for Project MINARET, was an espionage exercise that involved the accumulation of all telegraphic data entering into or exiting from the United States...
- Security-Enhanced LinuxSecurity-Enhanced LinuxSecurity-Enhanced Linux is a Linux feature that provides a mechanism for supporting access control security policies, including United States Department of Defense-style mandatory access controls, through the use of Linux Security Modules in the Linux kernel...
- Signals intelligence
- Skipjack (cipher)Skipjack (cipher)In cryptography, Skipjack is a block cipher—an algorithm for encryption—developed by the U.S. National Security Agency . Initially classified, it was originally intended for use in the controversial Clipper chip...
- TEMPESTTEMPESTTEMPEST is a codename referring to investigations and studies of compromising emission . Compromising emanations are defined as unintentional intelligence-bearing signals which, if intercepted and analyzed, may disclose the information transmitted, received, handled, or otherwise processed by any...
- Thomas Andrews DrakeThomas Andrews DrakeThomas Andrews Drake is a former senior official of the U.S. National Security Agency , decorated United States Air Force and United States Navy veteran, computer software expert, linguist, management and leadership specialist, and whistleblower. In 2010 the government alleged that he 'mishandled'...
(whistleblower) - Type 1 product
- UKUSA
- United States Department of Homeland SecurityUnited States Department of Homeland SecurityThe United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
- U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations
- John Anthony WalkerJohn Anthony WalkerJohn Anthony Walker, Jr. is a former United States Navy Chief Warrant Officer and communications specialist convicted of spying for the Soviet Union from 1968 to 1985, at the height of the Cold War...
Further reading
- James Bamford, Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency, Doubleday, 2001, ISBN 0-385-49907-8.
- James Bamford, The Puzzle Palace, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-006748-5.
- Levy, StevenSteven LevySteven Levy is an American journalist who has written several books on computers, technology, cryptography, the Internet, cybersecurity, and privacy.-Career:...
, Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government—Saving Privacy in the Digital Age– discussion of the development of non-government cryptography, including many accounts of tussles with the NSA. - Radden Keefe, Patrick, Chatter: Dispatches from the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping, Random House, ISBN 1-4000-6034-6.
- Liston, Robert A., The Pueblo Surrender: a Covert Action by the National Security Agency, ISBN 0-87131-554-8.
- Kahn, David, The CodebreakersThe CodebreakersThe Codebreakers – The Story of Secret Writing is a book by David Kahn, published in 1967 comprehensively chronicling the history of cryptography from ancient Egypt to the time of its writing...
, 1181 pp., ISBN 0-684-83130-9. Look for the 1967 rather than the 1996 edition. - Tully, Andrew, The Super Spies: More Secret, More Powerful than the CIA, 1969, LC 71080912.
- Bamford, JamesJames BamfordV. James Bamford is an American bestselling author and journalist who writes about United States intelligence agencies, most notably the National Security Agency.-Biography:...
, New York Times, December 25, 2005; The Agency That Could Be Big Brother. - Sam AdamsSamuel A. AdamsSamuel A. Adams was an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency who is best known for discovering underestimated Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army troop numbers during the Vietnam War. He eventually retired from the CIA after claiming there was a conspiracy among officials within U.S....
, War of Numbers: An Intelligence Memoir Steerforth; New Ed edition (June 1, 1998) - John Prados, The Soviet estimate: U.S. intelligence analysis & Russian military strength, hardcover, 367 pages, ISBN 0-385-27211-1, Dial Press (1982).
- Walter LaqueurWalter LaqueurWalter Zeev Laqueur is an American historian and political commentator. He was born in Breslau, Germany , to a Jewish family. In 1938, Laqueur left Germany for the British Mandate of Palestine. His parents, who were unable to leave, became victims of the Holocaust...
, A World of secrets - Sherman KentSherman KentSherman Kent, , was a Yale University history professor who, during World War II and through 17 years of Cold War-era service in the Central Intelligence Agency, pioneered many of the methods of intelligence analysis...
, Strategic Intelligence for American Public Policy - Matthew Aid, The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency, 432 pages, ISBN 978-1596915152, Bloomsbury Press (June 9, 2009)
- Richard J. Aldrich, GCHQ: The Uncensored Story of Britain's Most Secret Intelligence Agency, HarperCollins, 2010. ISBN 9780007278473.
External links
- NSA official site
- Records of the National Security Agency/Central Security Service
- History of NSA
- The NSA charter
- Inside The NSA - The Spy Factory Documentary via Educated Earth.
- "The Origins of the National Security Agency, 1940-1952"—newly declassified book-length report provided by The Memory Hole.
- The National Security Archive at George Washington University
- First person account of NSA interview and clearance January 2004
- James BamfordJames BamfordV. James Bamford is an American bestselling author and journalist who writes about United States intelligence agencies, most notably the National Security Agency.-Biography:...
"Big Brother Is Listening". The Atlantic, April 2006 - James Bamford Inside the National Security Agency (Lecture) American Civil Liberties UnionAmerican Civil Liberties UnionThe American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, KUOW-FMKUOW-FMKUOW-FM 94.9 is a National Public Radio affiliate radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is a top-ranked radio station in the Seattle/Tacoma media market...
, PRXPublic Radio ExchangeThe Public Radio Exchange is a nonprofit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization claims to be the largest on-demand catalog of public radio programs available for broadcast and Internet use.-Mission:According to PRX's site, its mission...
, NPR, February 24, 2007 (53: minutes) - GCHQ: Britain's Most Secret Intelligence Agency