NSA Losing Crypto Experts

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

>From Government Executive, August, 1998:

The National Security Agency is losing ground in the fight
to keep hard-to-find cryptography experts from being lured
to greener pastures.

By Richard Lardner

Price Waterhouse didn't become a force in the consulting
world by ignoring market trends. So it was no surprise when
the firm decided to expand its information security
operation. After all, the Internet has completely changed
the way business is done: Paper is out, electrons are in.
But just as electronic commerce is skyrocketing, so too are
the odds that sensitive corporate information might be
tampered with as it travels through cyberspace. 

With the private sector beginning to recognize that the
digital door swings both ways, there's growing demand for
the "risk management" services Price Waterhouse and other
companies are offering to help keep the hackers at bay. To
snare these potential clients, the company needed to hire
hundreds of information technology professionals. Trouble
is, information protection may be a huge growth area, but
the talent pool is mighty shallow. 

So officials at Price Waterhouse did what many other
commercial enterprises have done, and continue to do. They
targeted a group of employees at the Defense Department's
secretive National Security Agency, where thousands of the
federal government's best and brightest spend their days
eavesdropping on other countries while at the same time
ensuring that U.S. information networks are secure. Because
of the highly sensitive missions the agency performs,
companies like Price Waterhouse know they are getting
employees who are extremely good at what they do and are
solid citizens too-NSA is picky about whom it hires and
conducts thorough background investigations. 

Full text:

   http://www.jya.com/nsa-loss.htm