National Security Agency

National Security Agency (NSA), an independent agency within the U.S. Dept. of Defense. Founded by presidential order in 1952, its primary function is to encode and decode communications intelligence and to protect U.S. signals and information systems. The mission of its Information Systems Security department (INFOSEC) is to protect classified and sensitive information stored on government computers or networks. The NSA includes the Central Security Service, established in 1972 to promote a full partnership between the NSA and the cryptological elements of the armed forces, and the National Cryptologic School. The agency, which is headquartered in Fort Meade, Md., is the largest employer of mathematicians in the country. Its director must be a military officer. For many years the NSA was the most hidden of U.S. intelligence agencies; its large budget was secret and its existence barely acknowledged.

Bibliography

See J. Bamford, The Puzzle Palace (1982) and Body of Secrets (2001).

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National Security Agency (NSA)

U.S. intelligence agency responsible for cryptographic and communications intelligence and security. Established in 1952 by a presidential directive (not by law), it has operated largely without Congressional oversight. Its director has always been a general or an admiral. Its mission includes the protection and formulation of codes, ciphers, and other cryptology as well as the interception, analysis, and solution of coded transmissions. It conducts research into all forms of electronic transmission and operates listening posts around the world for the interception of signals. Though its budget and the number of its employees is secret, the NSA is acknowledged to be far larger than the Central Intelligence Agency, possessing financial resources that rival those of the world's largest companies.