Archive for the ‘NSA’ Category
NSA Claims It Cant Watch an Important Tape It Recorded in the 1980s – Gizmodo
There are two reels of old tape buried in the National Security Agencys archives that contain a landmark piece of computer science history. Theres a problem though, the NSA doesnt have a device that can play back the tapes.
The tapes are a recording of a lecture from computer science legend Admiral Grace Hopper. Hopper was a U.S. Navy officer and computer pioneer who helped develop FLOW-MATIC, the first programming language that used English keywords instead of numbers. She later helped develop COBOL, a business-oriented computer language that still undergirds many computer systems.
In 1982, she gave a lecture at the NSA headquarters at Fort Meade. The NSA recorded the lecture and stored it away. The insights contained within her 1982 lecture, split into two partsTVC 930A and TVC 930B, with durations of 48 minutes and 15 seconds, and 40 minutes and 39 seconds, respectivelyare not just historical footnotes but are likely to offer valuable perspectives on the evolution of technology and its societal impact, researcher Michael Ravnitzkysaid in an article about Hoppers lecture on MuckRock, a nonprofit that helps people file Freedom of Information Act Requests (FOIAs).
Ravnitzky filed a FOIA for the tapes on October 12, 2021. Three years later the NSA said there were no responsive documents. Ravnitzky told the NSA he knew the agency had the files. The NSAs own Television Center Catalog, a document turned loose by a FOIA in 2009, listed the tapes among the contents. He pressed them for an explanation.
The NSAs excuse? It didnt have anything to play the tapes back, couldnt listen to them, and therefore couldnt clear them for release. When the search was conducted, our office reached out to the organization that would have the tape you requested if it still exists. We were informed that although there are some older video tapes that are potentially responsive, they are on a format that NSA no longer has the ability to view or digitize, the NSA FOIA office said in a follow-up. Without being able to view the tapes, NSA has no way to verify their responsiveness. NSA is not required to find or obtain new technology (outdated or current) in order to process a request.
Ravnitzky asked the NSA for pictures of the tapes and they complied. The pictures revealed the tapes were recorded on an AMPEX 1-inch Video Tape Recorder. There were three different standardized types of AMPEX machines, but it wouldnt be impossible to find a device that could play back the tapes. A cursory search on eBay revealed dozens of machines that might fit the bill.
It might not come to that. After MuckRock published an article people stepped forward and offered to help. Michael Morisy, the founder and CEO of MuckRock, told Gizmodo that several groups had reached out with various hardware setups they thought could do the trick.
Been trying to connect folks, he said. But not sure if anything concrete has or will come of it yet.
The NSA is holding on to an important piece of computer history, something historians and the public will be interested to hear. Tape, like everything else, degrades over time. If we want to preserve this lecture and hear the wisdom of Admiral Hopper, now is the time to act.
This challenge transcends the confines of NSAs operational scope, Ravnitzky said on MuckRock. It is our shared obligation to safeguard such pivotal elements of our nations history, ensuring they remain within reach of future generations. While the stewardship of these recordings may extend beyond the NSAs typical purview, they are undeniably a part of Americas national heritage.
See the rest here:
NSA Claims It Cant Watch an Important Tape It Recorded in the 1980s - Gizmodo
Letter to NSA Sullivan Requesting Assessment of Information Russia Has Shared with the PRC on U.S. Weapons Capabilities in Ukraine – Select Committee…
Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sent a letter to National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, requesting an assessment of the information that Russia has shared with the PRC regarding U.S. weapons capabilities and those of our partners and allies.
In the letter, the Chairman and Ranking Member write, As you stated on July 9, we should not expect that foreign adversaries, such as the PRC, are supporting Russia for free. Rather, we should anticipate and indeed operate under the assumption that Russia is passing information about vulnerabilities or counters to American and allied weapons systems to the PRC in support of its no limits partnership.
Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi and Chairman Moolenaar request the Administration share, at the appropriate classification level, their current determinations and assessments on the information that the PRC has shared with Russia, and the administrations plans to ensure that the appropriate steps are taken to hold both Russia and the PRC accountable.
Background:
Chairman Moolenaar and Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi releaseda statementlast week, following theWashington Summit Declarationissued by the NATO allies condemning the Chinese Communist Party for its support of Russia's war in Ukraine.
The full text of the letter can be foundHERE
The rest is here:
Letter to NSA Sullivan Requesting Assessment of Information Russia Has Shared with the PRC on U.S. Weapons Capabilities in Ukraine - Select Committee...
The NSA Is Defeated By A 1950s Tape Recorder. Can You Help Them? – Hackaday
One of the towering figures in the evolution of computer science was Grace Hopper, an American mathematician, academic, and Naval reservist, whose work gave us the first programming languages, compilers, and much more. Sadly she passed away in 1992, so her wisdom hasnt directly informed the Internet Age in the manner of some of her surviving contemporaries.
During her life she gave many lectures though, and as [Michael Ravnitzky] discovered, one of them was recorded on video tape and resides in the archives of Americas National Security Agency. With the title Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software, and People, it was the subject of a Freedom Of Information request. This in turn was denied, on the grounds that Without being able to view the tapes, NSA has no way to verify their responsiveness. In short, the recording lies on Ampex 1 reel-to-reel video tape, which the NSA claims no longer to be able to read.
Its fairly obvious from that response that the agency has no desire to oblige, and wed be very surprised to find that they keep a working Ampex video system to hand on the off-chance that a passing researcher might ask for an archive tape. But at the same time its also obvious that a lecture from Rear Admiral Hopper is an artifact of international importance that should be preserved and available for study. Its an interesting thought exercise to guess how many phone calls Hackaday would have to make to secure access to a working Ampex video recorder, and since we think for us that number would be surprisingly low its likely the NSA know exactly who to call if they needed that tape viewed in a hurry. We dont have influence over secretive government agencies, but if we did wed be calling shame on them at this point.
If youre curious about Grace Hopper, weve talked about her work here in the past.
Thanks [F4GRX] for the tip.
Ampex image: Telecineguy., Public domain.
Excerpt from:
The NSA Is Defeated By A 1950s Tape Recorder. Can You Help Them? - Hackaday