From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 93 12:25:25 PST
To: ld231782@longs.lance.colostate.edu
Subject: Re: public privacy, NSA resources
In-Reply-To: <9301240022.AA21591@longs.lance.colostate.edu>
Message-ID: <9301242022.AA12398@netcom3.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


someone with a long net address, included in the "To:" field, writes:
(quoting someone else)

> >Another aside. The NCSC is essentially a front for the NSA.
> >NCSC exists but has no more than two employees, one is the
> >secretary to an NSA official.
> 
> Extremely interesting. What  does NCSC stand for?

National Computer Security Center. 

Send a letter requesting to be added to the distribution list of the
"Orange Book"-related materials (frequent updates to a set of
guidelines on computer security protocols, the most famous being one
with an orange cover, hence the name), and you will start receiving a
lot of stuff from them.

The address:

The INFOSEC Awareness Office can be reached at:

Department of Defense
National Security Agency
ATTN: S332
9800 Savage Road
Ft. George Meade, MD 20755-6000

or phone 301-766-8729

(these are the numbers I used a couple of years ago...your mileage may vary.)

> I am doubtful of the 40,000 figure even with contract employees. That's
> a small army. What the hell could keep that many people busy? (shudder)

NSA occupies two very large office buildings, including the longest
corridor in the world (a mile, if I recall correctly, but my copy of
"The Puzzle Palace" is not handy). I went and took a look, and can
confirm the parking lot is _huge_.

The 40,000 figure may or may not be accurate, as the NSA won't say.
Some say the employment is closer to 100,000. Certainly it is much
higher than that of the CIA.  Bear in mind that they are the nation's
primary SIGINT facility, operating the various listening posts in
conjunction with military personnel (via Army Security Agency, Naval
Security Group, Air Forc, etc.).

As always, read James Bamford's "The Puzzle Palace," which gets
referred to a lot on this list.

> Do you know much about MITRE?  It has a high net profile and I was
> wondering if it is a cover for something else too.

MITRE, derived from "MIT REsearch," is one of several defense-oriented
think tanks, the others being RAND Corporation ("R & D," not Ayn Rand!),
Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA), etc. The Communications Research
Division of IDA, located at Princeton, was formed in 1956 to help the
NSA. Lots of famous mathematicians, including Barkley Rosser, Andrew
Gleason, and others.

This shadowy world of defense think tanks is a subject unto itself.


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: waiting for the dust to settle.