Archive for the ‘NSA’ Category

NSA, Cyber Command structure should remain the same – The Hill (blog)

As if not troubled enough by President Trumps attacks, a new debate is heighteningtensions in the intelligence community. The Pentagon has started to assess whether it is time todivide the leadershipof the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.Such a move is dubious: Is change necessary? Can the IC tolerate another shock?

A look overseas to the Israeli case could provide some insight.

According to that plan, the new directorate would absorb responsibilities and resources from both Unit8200(the IDFs signals intelligence or SIGINT unit, equivalent to the NSA), as well as the Computer Service Directorate (equivalent to the Joint Staff J6). A fierce internal debate has emerged, with several (including the head of AMAN, the Intelligence Directorate) arguing that all cyber activities should remain under AMANs responsibility, while others insist that there is an acute need for a dedicated cyber directorate.

In early 2017, Lt. Gen. Eizenkot announced that the establishment of the Cyber Directorate would be postponed until further notice, and declared that AMAN would handle offensive and information collection elements in cyber space, while the Cyber Administration would come under the Computer Service Directorate, focusing mainly on defensive activities.

The reasons that led Lt. Gen. Eizenkot, who is considered a level-headed officer, to reverse his 2015 decision are highly relevant to the American case.

From a strategic standpoint, the implications of the cyber domain on present and future battlefields are still ambiguous and constantly changing; so too are their effects on traditional kinetic challenges. The inter-relations between the physical and virtual domains are still in flux, with grave ramifications on the nature of threats, and the measures needed to cope with them.

These changes are highly relevant to the way the IC reacts and adapts. The vast majority of the NSAs current collection activities are most likely executed through and with the cyber domain. Though traditional methods (such as phone tapping) are not dead, it is safe to assume that cyber is more dominant than ever, and will only continue to grow over more traditional domains and methods. Furthermore, given the specific characteristics of the cyber domain, it is difficult to distinguish between types of cyber activities (e.g., collection vs. attack). Separating those in charge of SIGINT and those in charge of cyber doesnt make sense.

as the last few years have taught us, the Wests adversaries have themselves transitioned to the cyber domain. With Russias (alleged)interventionin the U.S. elections, theSnowden affair, HAMAS and Irans extensive use ofcyber-related techniques, Chinesetheftof F-35 plans, and ISISssophisticated useof the virtual domain, this may not be the right time for radical changes.

Separating the NSA and the Cyber Command would inevitably create a long transition period, during which U.S. cyber capabilities would be negatively affected. Disputes over missions and responsibilities, coordination issues, transition of manpower, and lack of sufficient resources in one or both entities would jeopardize U.S. cyber resilience in the short term at the very least.

Finally, with Trump trying to aggressivelyredefinerelations between the IC and the executive branch, the last thing the community needs at this moment is another shock. A decision to separate the NSA and Cyber Command would create an all-out war within the IC and the Department of Defense, since no sane commander would agree to surrender responsibilities and resources to another organization.

The NSA itself would lose not only prestige but also relevancy, and presumably try to torpedo the move. If any change is needed at all, it would require a different approach: the cyber component should gain supremacy over any other type of SIGINT activity, as this will be the not-too-distant future reality. Until then, NSA-Cyber Command relations should remain untouched.

Shay Hershkovitz, Ph.D., is chief strategy officer at Wikistrat, Inc. and a political science professor at Tel Aviv University specializing in intelligence studies. He is also a former IDF intelligence officer whose book, "Aman Comes To Light," deals with the history of the Israeli intelligence community.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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NSA, Cyber Command structure should remain the same - The Hill (blog)

Newly Installed NSA McMaster Reassures National Security Staff: No Witch Hunts Coming – Washington Free Beacon

Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster / AP

BY: Adam Kredo February 24, 2017 1:25 pm

Incoming White House National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster sought to reassure senior Trump administration officials during his first "all hands" staff meeting Thursday, according to those who attended the get together and told the Washington Free Beacon that McMaster informed staffers he does not intend to pursue a major shakeup of President Donald Trump's national security team.

McMaster, who replaced Michael Flynn following his resignation last week, plans to navigate a vast departure from the Obama administration's foreign policy vision, according to senior White House officials who described the meeting as "reassuring." McMaster emphasized that he will not dismantle the team that Flynn had built.

As part of his discussion with White House national security staff, McMaster recommended a comprehensive reading list that included President Trump's book, "The Art of the Deal," and several other tomes by leading historians about how to get the upper hand on America's enemies. White House staff are said to have been mostly "thrilled" when hearing about the book list.

Sources who spoke to the Free Beacon about McMaster's vision, as laid out in the Thursday meeting, expressed optimism about his appointment and pushed back on what they described as false media narratives centered around White House disarray following Flynn's departure.

"It's no secret we've had a few more all-hands meetings than we intended in our first monthbut General McMaster used this event to both reassure the NSC staff and to give us the tools to continue the mission," said one senior White House National Security Council official who requested anonymity while discussing internal White House meetings.

McMaster explicitly told White House officials that he does not aim to dismantle Trump's foreign policy team or push out those perceived as still loyal to Flynn. These comments run counter to a recent New York Times report claiming that McMaster is pursuing a massive reorganization of the president's national security team.

"He made it clear he wasn't there to grind a political axe or engage in a witch hunt," the senior White House official said. "He was there to provide leadership, including direction on how to think about the task in front of us."

To help with this effort, McMaster recommended several books meant to help current White House officials understand his own foreign policy vision.

One senior White House official who spoke to the Free Beacon described the reading list as pleasantly surprising and a vast departure from the former Obama administration's own national security vision.

In addition to Trump's "Art of the Deal," McMaster recommended reading his own book, "Dereliction of Duty," which catalogues the mistakes that led the United States into a quagmire in Vietnam.

He also suggestedthat White House staffers read Peter Rodman's "Presidential Command," which McMaster reportedly referred to as the "gold standard" in foreign policy history. Rodman was a top official in the Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and both Bush administrations.

Senior White House staff are said to have found the mention of the book "very reassuring."

"It's certainly encouraging to see General McMaster highlighting his legacy," one source said.

McMaster went on to further recommend two books by Zachary Shore, a historian and international conflict expert who teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School.

One Shore book, "Blunder: Why Smart People Make Bad Decisions," was described as "a cautionary tale for the staff" at the White House. The other, "A Sense of the Enemy," examines methods to overtake rival forces.

Lastly, McMaster recommended staff read an essay by Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan titled, "The Rhyme of History," which tackles lessons from World War I.

Senior White House officials who took part in the meeting described the reading list as encouraging and part of an effort to restore conservative principals focused primarily on defending the U.S.'s best interests.

The mention of MacMillan's essay in particular "suggests General McMaster does not consider the 21st century a sort of post-historical bubble, but rather that there is a great deal to be learned from history as we chart our path forward," said one official who described McMaster as advocating a wholesale reversal from the Obama administration's vision.

Several historians currently serve on the White House's national security team, including Col. Derek Harvey, a former advisor to Gen. David Petraeus; Michael Anton, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, and Victoria Coates, a former top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and art historian.

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Newly Installed NSA McMaster Reassures National Security Staff: No Witch Hunts Coming - Washington Free Beacon

NSA Head: Russian Interference in US Election, ‘Hey, This Happened’ – USNI News

Adm. Michael S. Rogers, commander, U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) and head of the National Security Agency. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. The head of the National Security Agency reiterated that Russia engaged in cyber actions to influence the result of the U.S. presidential election and said the Moscow-directed interference is changing the way the NSA thinks about U.S. critical infrastructure.

We have been very public particularly if I put on my NSA hat in categorizing the behaviors we saw, from a cyber perspective, the Russians engaged in terms of our election process. We were very confident that, hey, this happened. What does that mean? said Adm. Rogers, who also heads U.S. Cyber Command, said on Thursday at the West 2017 conference.

It highlights to us that we need to rethink what critical infrastructure means in the digital age. We tended to view historically critical infrastructure as something associated with an output. Hey, air traffic. Hey, pipelines. The financial world. Power distribution. Generally, we thought a very industrial set of processes that generated some sort of output.

What the Russians did to influence the U.S. election adds a new dimension to what the U.S. should work to protect from influence from a cyber action or attack, he said.

What about information, data and fundamental processes like the ability to ensure high confidence that in a Western democracy the electoral outcome is actually reflective of the majority of our citizens, which is at the heart of the democratic system? he said. We have to think of it in a different way, and data increasingly has a value all of its own.

Rogers cited the attacks on the Office of Personnel Management in which the personal data of more than 21. 5 million people who had undergone the U.S. security clearance process was breached and the Russias hack of Democratic National Committee emails and subsequent distribution on Wikileaks as new types of threats.

You saw that in OPM, you saw that with the Russians the way they penetrated systems, moved data and then provided that in very public, unaltered format, he said. So we have to work through that. We need to work with a broader set of nations to clearly signal that this is unacceptable, and we need to drive the calculus in a different way.

Separately during the conference event, Rogers said the Trump administration has made cyber security a priority and predicted administration-level action soon.

The discussions moderator, retired Adm. James Stavridis, former NATO supreme commander and U.S. Naval Institute chairman, said that a Trump executive order on cyber was in the works and asked Rogers on the status.

Theres an ongoing dialogue that the administration I dont want to speak for them but if you take their statements, theyve been very upfront about the desire to make this a priority and a focus area in the early stages of the administration, Rogers said. I expect it to play out sometime in the immediate near term. The process always takes longer than you would like, but I think this would play out. The biggest input Ive tried to provide and Im just one voice take this opportunity to step back and look at this with a new set of eyes and say, if you were creating this from the ground up, how would you do this?

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NSA Head: Russian Interference in US Election, 'Hey, This Happened' - USNI News

NSA Deputy Director: Why I Spent the Last 40 Years In National Security – TIME

The headquarters of the NSA in Fort Meade, Maryland.Courtesy of the NSA

Ideas

Ledgett is the deputy director of the National Security Agency

In 1977 I was finishing my sophomore year of college, working two jobs to put myself through school, and thought, There has to be a better way. So I enlisted in the U.S. Army as a Signals Intelligence/Electronic Warfare Morse Intercept Operator, which didnt tell me much but would let me earn money toward college through the GI Bill . My plan was to do my 3 years, get out, and finish college. That plan didnt work out; I ended up staying in the Army almost eleven years and then transitioned to the National Security Agency as a civilian for 29 more, and am retiring this April after 40 years in the business. I did end up finishing my degree after hours, and went on to get a masters degree, just not in the way Id planned. What happened along the way was that I discovered the fulfillment that comes from serving the nation and its allies, working with some of the most amazing people on the planet, on the most challenging problems we face.

For someone like me who is motivated by understanding how things work, the signals intelligence business is fascinating. Theres the challenge of understanding the communications technology that the target (in my early days, principally the Soviet Union ) uses, and how to intercept those communications. Then theres the need to understand the internal plumbing of how the intercepted data flows through our complicated architecture, and the multiple transformations that happen along the way. After that, analysts need to figure out what the data actually means the so what? of the intercept. Thats not as easy as it sounds, as the targets will work to hide their activities through cover names, and make references to shared information and experience that we dont have. And they rarely communicate in English, which requires a very high degree of expertise in the relevant foreign languages, to include slang and argot specific to functions and sub-cultures. This one is especially important to get right the difference between launch at noon and lunch at noon is consequential.

Its a complicated puzzle that requires multiple domains of expertise, all applied in the right way at the right time, to achieve success. But success in what we do isnt enough success has to translate into a good outcome for the users of our material, whether thats a policy maker planning a diplomatic negotiation with a foreign country, or a military commander assessing the threat to our forces. That means we need to understand their plans, and the way they work, well enough to know the best place for us to inject our information yet another level of complexity. But a successful outcome whether thats providing key information at the right point in a negotiation, or warning a military unit of an ambush so they can avoid it is hugely motivating, because we can see how the application of our hard-earned technical and operational knowledge resulted in a good outcome for the nation, and in those cases where we actually save lives, the individuals. There is a satisfaction that comes from knowing the story behind the headlines, and the fact that we had a part in how that played out even if we cant tell anyone about it.

The cyber domain is relatively new, adding some layers of complexity, but having the same foundational characteristics. In fact, the principal reason NSA is so skilled in the cyber domain is that weve been operating in it since its inception. The global telecommunications environment, where NSA works its signals intelligence mission to produce foreign intelligence, is also cyberspace, and we are expert denizens. Our complementary mission of information assurance, where we protect national security-related networks and information, requires us to have detailed insights into U.S. government networks. In both domains, our people need to have extraordinarily deep technical knowledge of networks, devices, and software, which quite often exceeds that of the people who built or programmed those products. When applied to the cybersecurity mission, it gives the nation a strategic advantage. And from a motivational point of view, what could be more satisfying than using ones expertise to defeat a foreign hacker threat to the country?

The personal and professional rewards of working in the intelligence business have been remarkable. Ive had the opportunity to travel to 39 different countries, and made lifelong friends in some of them. Ive seen what went on behind the headlines of everything from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan , to the North Korean destructive attack on Sony , to the Russian cyber exploitation of the Democratic National Committee. More importantly, Ive seen the unsung heroes of the intelligence community, and especially at NSA, who work incredibly hard applying their formidable intellects and energy to protect us. They work countless hours at great personal cost, from missing milestones in their childrens lives to turning down lucrative jobs outside government because of their deep love for the mission. They deploy with our forces forward in war zones to ensure our military is protected, sacrificing time with their loved ones. Unfortunately, some of them have made an even greater sacrifice. The NSA/CSS Cryptologic Memorial Wall names the 176 individuals who have given their lives performing signals intelligence and information assurance missions around the globe.

Thats what kept me in this business for 40 years the combination of the intellectual challenge, the chance to develop and apply technical and operational expertise to things that matter, the joy of working with incredibly intelligent and motivated people, and the feeling that Im part of something bigger than myself. Im a little envious of the people coming into the workforce right now, as they have limitless opportunities to contribute, to serve, and to get the same kind of satisfaction from working in this completely digital, connected world. In 25 years or so, one of them will be sitting in the seat that I am now, and I hope she gets as much enjoyment from the journey as I have.

Ledgett is the Deputy Director of the National Security Agency. He will retire in April.

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NSA Deputy Director: Why I Spent the Last 40 Years In National Security - TIME

Whistleblower Reinstated in Job in Test Case for NSA and Intelligence Community – Just Security

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In a case that has been closely followed as a test for new whistleblower protections put in place by President Obama, it can now be reported that the whistleblower received restitution for his complaint, according to information provided to Just Security by a government official familiar with the case.

The whistleblower, who requested anonymity in communicating with Just Security, said that he suffered a reprisal for reporting a lack of action in investigating possible misconduct by Senior NSA Officials with respect to a funding of a conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The whistleblower, an Intelligence Community employee, was denied an assignment within the National Security Agencys Inspector Generals Office of Investigations.

Thanks to a set of procedures put in place by the Presidential Directive in 2012 the whistleblower was able to file an allegation of reprisal. His complaint was initially rejected by the Department of Defenses Inspector General. It then became the first case to be reviewed by another mechanism put in place by the Presidential Directivean External Review Panel composed of three inspector generals, including CIA, the Justice Department, and Treasury.

In its most recent report to Congress, the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community explained that the Review Panels report, which has not yet been made public, detailed that the employee was entitled to appropriate relief from the agency but that the recommendations were still being implemented. For his part, the whistleblower told Just Security, that the process created by the Presidential Directive was critical to my success personally and professionally. Without it, he said, an IC whistleblower does not really have a chance. This process now places some genuine oversight.

Just Security can now report that the whistleblower has been reinstated in the NSAs Inspector Generals Office of Investigations, according to a government official familiar with the case.

On Thursday, Andrew Bakaj and Mark Zaid wrote about the case, focusing on procedures involvingthe individual accused of engaging in reprisal against the whistleblower.

[Editors Note: If interested in the topic of whistleblowing, read Just Securitys coverage includingNick Schwellenbachs Survivors Guide to Being a Successful Whistleblower in the Federal Government.]

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Whistleblower Reinstated in Job in Test Case for NSA and Intelligence Community - Just Security