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The National Security Agency (NSA)



The National Security Agency (NSA) is the main producer and manager of signals intelligence for the United States. Estimated to be one of the largest of U.S. intelligence organizations in terms of personnel and budget,[5][7] the NSA operates under the jurisdiction of theDepartment of Defense and reports to the Director of National Intelligence. The NSA is primarily tasked with global monitoring, collection, decoding, translation and analysis of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, including surveillance of targeted individuals on U.S. soil. The agency is authorized to accomplish its mission through clandestine means,[8] among which is bugging electronic systems[9] and allegedly engaging in sabotagethrough subversive software.[10][11] The NSA is also responsible for the protection of U.S. government communications and information systems.[12]

Unlike the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), both of which specialize primarily in foreignhuman espionage, the NSA has no authority to conduct human-source intelligence gathering, although it is often portrayed so in popular culture. Instead, the NSA is entrusted with coordination and deconfliction of SIGINT components of otherwise non-SIGINT government organizations, which are prevented by law from engaging in such activities without the approval of the NSA via the Defense Secretary.[13]

As part of these streamlining responsibilities, the agency has a co-located organization called the Central Security Service (CSS), which was created to facilitate cooperation between NSA and other U.S. military cryptanalysis components. Additionally, the NSA Directorsimultaneously serves as the Commander of the United States Cyber Command and as Chief of the Central Security Service.

Organizational Structure

The NSA is led by the Director of the National Security Agency (DIRNSA), who also serves as Chief of the Central Security Service (CHCSS) and Commander of the United States Cyber Command USCYBERCOM) and is the highest-ranking military official of these organizations. He is assisted by a Deputy Director, who is the highest-ranking civilian within the NSA/CSS. NSA also has an Inspector General, head of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), a General Counsel, head of the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and a Director of Compliance, who is head of the Office of the Director of Compliance (ODOC).[91]Unlike other intelligence organizations such as CIA or DIA, NSA has always been particularly reticent concerning its internal organizational structure.

Directorates 

As of the mid-1990s, the National Security Agency was organized into five Directorates, each of which consists of several groups or elements: 
The Operations Directorate, which is responsible for SIGINT collection and processing. 
The Technology and Systems Directorate, which develops new technologies for SIGINT collection and processing. The Information Systems Security Directorate, which is responsible for NSA's communications and information security missions. The Plans, Policy and Programs Directorate, which provides staff support and general direction for the Agency. The Support Services Directorate, which provides logistical and administrative support activities.[92]

At least three of these directorates have been renamed, as currently there are the following directorates: 
Signals Intelligence Directorate (SID), which is responsible for the collection, analysis, production and dissemination of signals intelligence. This directorate is led by a director and a deputy director. 
Information Assurance Directorate (IAD), which ensures the availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, and non-repudiation of national security and telecommunications and information systems (national security systems). Research Directorate, which conducts research on signals intelligence and on information assurance for the U.S. Government.[93]

In the year 2000, a leadership team was formed, consisting of the Director, the Deputy Director and the Directors of the Signals Intelligence (SID), the Information Assurance (IAD) and the Technical Directorate (TD). The chiefs of other main NSA divisions became associate directors of the senior leadership team.[94]
Groups, Divisions and Units Each of these directorates consist of a number of groups, designated by a letter, like "A Group" or "T Group". Units of these groups have a designation which starts with the letter, followed by some numbers. For example, the NSA office that manages the SENIOR SPAN platform, attached to U2 spy planes, is known as G112, and the agency's Special Collection Service, which operates out of embassies, is F6.[95]

In 1978, the CIA and NSA created a joint program known as the Special Collection Service (SCS) to facilitate clandestine activities such as bugging computers throughout the world, using the expertise of both agencies.[96]After president George W. Bush initiated the President's Surveillance Program (PSP) in 2001, the NSA created a 24-hour Metadata Analysis Center (MAC), followed in 2004 by the Advanced Analysis Division (AAD), which had to analyze content, internet metadata and telephone metadata. Both units were part of the Signals Intelligence Directorate. The classified codeword for information from the PSP program was STELLARWIND.[97]

From NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden in June 2013, it became clear that the NSA has the following units for intercepting operations: Special Source Operations (SSO), which is responsible for domestic and compartmented collection programs (for example, the PRISM program).[98] Special Source Operations is also mentioned in connection to the FAIRVIEW collection program.[99] Global Access Operations (GAO), which is responsible for intercepts from satellites and other international SIGINT platforms.[98] A tool which details and maps the information collected by this unit is code-named BOUNDLESSINFORMANT. Tailored Access Operations (TAO), which hacks into foreign computers to conduct cyber-espionage and reportedly is "the largest and arguably the most important component of the NSA's huge Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) Directorate, consisting of over 1,000 military and civilian computer hackers, intelligence analysts, targeting specialists, computer hardware and software designers, and electrical engineers."[100] There's also an office of Information Sharing Services (ISS), lead by a chief and a deputy chief.[101]

Watch centers

The NSA maintains at least two watch centers: National Security Operations Center (NSOC), which is the NSA's current operations center and focal point for time-sensitive SIGINT reporting for the United States SIGINT System (USSS). This center was established in 1968 as the National SIGINT Watch Center (NSWC) and renamed into National SIGINT Operations Center (NSOC) in 1973. This "nerve center of the NSA" got its current name in 1996.[102] NSA/CSS Threat Operations Center (NTOC), which is the primary NSA/CSS partner for Department of Homeland Security response to cyber incidents. The NTOC establishes real-time network awareness and threat characterization capabilities to forecast, alert, and attribute malicious activity and enable the coordination of Computer Network Operations. The NTOC was established in 2004 as a joint Information Assurance and Signals Intelligence project.[103]



Employees

The number of NSA employees is officially classified[3] but in 2012, the NSA said more than 30,000 employees work at Ft. Meade and other facilities.[1] In 2012 John C. Inglis, the deputy director, said that the total number of NSA employees is "somewhere between 37,000 and one billion" as a joke,[3] and stated that the agency is "probably the biggest employer of introverts."[3] In 2013Der Spiegel stated that the NSA had 40,000 employees.[4] More widely, it has been described as the world's largest single employer of mathematicians.[104] Some NSA employees form part of the workforce of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the agency that provides the NSA with satellite signals intelligence.

As of 2013 about 1,000 system administrators work for the NSA.[105] Edward Snowden's leaking of PRISM in 2013 caused the NSA to institute a "two-man rule" where two system administrators are required to be present when one accesses certain sensitive information.[105]



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