NSA's Dual Missions

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 6:39 PM 5/21/96, jim bell wrote:

>Yes...but...   How can the NSA serve two masters?  If the NSA has the
>American public's best interests at heart, then it should have revealed the
>flaw if it knew of it. (Otherwise, it can't be trusted...)

Reminder: the NSA ostensibly has dual missions.

First, the gathering of signals and communications intelligence.

Second, the securing of American signals and communcations.

This second mission is primarily military, diplomatic, and other
governmental communications, but has also been extended to assisting in the
securing of commercial communications.

NSA's (and its daughter org, the NCSC's) involvement in DES fits in here.

Some years back there was the "Commercial COMSEC Endorsement" program.

Anyway, Bamford describes the dual missions, albeit for the world of 1982
and earlier.

--Tim

Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
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Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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