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National Security Agency 1 National Security Agency National Security Agency 1 National Security Agency National Security Agency Seal of the National Security Agency Flag of the National Security Agency Agency overview Formed November 4, 1952 Preceding Agency Armed Forces Security Agency Jurisdiction United States of America Headquarters Fort Meade, Maryland, U.S. Employees Classified Annual budget Classified Agency executives General Keith B. Alexander, U.S. Army, Director of the National Security Agency John C. Inglis, Deputy Director of the National Security Agency Parent Agency United States Department of Defense Website [1] www.nsa.gov The National Security Agency (NSA) 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 information security and cryptanalysis/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.[2] By law, NSA's intelligence gathering is limited to foreign communications, although domestic incidents such as the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy have occurred. National Security Agency 2 History The National Security Agency's predecessor was the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA), created on May 20, 1949.[3] This organization was originally established within the U.S. Department of Defense 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.[4] 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,[4] 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 generationWikipedia:Vagueness. 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."[5] National Security Agency Memorials 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.[6] 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 National Cryptologic Memorial at NSA headquarters. A tradition of declassifying the stories of the fallen was begun in 2001.[7] In addition to the Cryptologic Memorial, the NSA also features the NSA Hall of Honor, a memorial at the National Security Agency headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. It honors individuals who rendered distinguished service to American cryptology. National Security Agency 3 Organizational structure 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.[8] Facilities Headquarters for the National Security Agency is at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, about 15 mi (24 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 NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland 1990s but not made a priority, and "now the agency's ability to keep its operations going is threatened."[9] The article noted that NSA has had to open a satellite office outside the Baltimore area because NSA has completely maxed out the electrical Grid; Baltimore Gas & Electric cannot provide NSA any more electricity at their current location. 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 semiconductors (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. (See also Friendship Annex.) 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 US $2 billion data center is being built at Camp Williams, Utah, located 25 miles (40 km) miles south of Salt Lake City. The data center will help support the agency's National Cyber-security Initiative.[10] It is expected to be operational by September of 2013.[11] National Security Agency 4 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-shelf 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. Behind the Green Door secure communications center with SIPRNET, GWAN, NSANET, and JWICS access 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 Book 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. Operations Mission NSA's eavesdropping 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 mathematicians,[12] and the owner of the single largest group of supercomputers,[13] 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".[14] According to the Washington Post, "[e]very day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, Cray X-MP/24 (ser. no. 115) supercomputer on phone calls and other types of communications. The NSA sorts a display
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