NSA
National Security Agency
http://www.nsa.gov/
The National Security Agency is the Nation's cryptologic organization. It
coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to protect U.S.
information systems and produce foreign intelligence information. A high
technology organization, NSA is on the frontiers of communications and data
processing. It is also one of the most important centers of foreign language
analysis and research within the Government.
Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) is a unique discipline with a long and storied
past. SIGINT's modern era dates to World War II, when the U.S. broke the
Japanese military code and learned of plans to invade Midway Island. This
intelligence allowed the U.S. to defeat Japan's superior fleet. The use of
SIGINT is believed to have directly contributed to shortening the war by at
least one year. Today, SIGINT continues to play an important role in maintaining
the superpower status of the United States.
As the world becomes more and more technology-oriented, the Information Systems
Security (INFOSEC) mission becomes increasingly challenging. This mission
involves protecting all classified and sensitive information that is stored or
sent through U.S. Government equipment. INFOSEC professionals go to great
lengths to make certain that Government systems remain impenetrable. This
support spans from the highest levels of U.S. Government to the individual
warfighter in the field.
NSA conducts one of the U.S. Government's leading research and development
programs. Some of the Agency's R&D projects have significantly advanced the
state of the art in the scientific and business worlds. NSA's early interest in
cryptanalytic research led to the first large-scale computer and the first
solid-state computer, predecessors to the modern computer. NSA pioneered efforts
in flexible storage capabilities, which led to the development of the tape
cassette. NSA also made ground-breaking developments in semiconductor technology
and remains a world leader in many technological fields.
Who is the NSA?
NSA employs the country's premier codemakers and codebreakers.
It is said to be the largest employer of mathematicians in the United States and
perhaps the world. Its mathematicians contribute directly to the two missions of
the Agency: designing cipher systems that will protect the integrity of U.S.
information systems and searching for weaknesses in adversaries' systems and
codes. Technology and the world change rapidly, and great emphasis is placed on
staying ahead of these changes with employee training programs. The National
Cryptologic School is indicative of the Agency's commitment to professional
development. The school not only provides unique training for the NSA workforce,
but it also serves as a training resource for the entire Department of Defense.
NSA sponsors employees for bachelor and graduate studies at the Nation's top
universities and colleges, and selected Agency employees attend the various war
colleges of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Most NSA/CSS employees, both civilian and military, are headquartered at Fort
Meade, Maryland, centrally located between Baltimore and Washington, DC. Its
workforce represents an unusual combination of specialties: analysts, engineers,
physicists, mathematicians, linguists, computer scientists, researchers, as well
as customer relations specialists, security officers, data flow experts,
managers, administrative and clerical assistants.