From: "Douglas F. Elznic" <delznic@storm.net>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 07:48:18 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Secrecy of NSA Affiliation
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19960125211323.0ef75aae@terminus.storm.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 12:35 PM 1/25/96 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote:
>At 5:55 PM 1/25/96, Rich Salz wrote:
>
>>Up until recently (18-30 months ago) NSA employees were only allowed
>>to identify themselves as employees of DoD.  It was common knowledge,
>>that unspecific references to Fort Meade meant NSA; and if you saw
>>a P.O. from Procurement Office, Fort Meade, it meant the NSA was buying
>>it.
>
>When I attended Crypto '88, nearly 8 years ago, at least several of the NSA
>attendees had "National Security Agency" on their name badges. It may be
>that run-of-the-mill employees still maintain the fiction  for public
>consumption that they are DOD employees, but such was not the case in 1988
>at "Crypto."
>
>(Recall the "NSA Employees Manual" which 2600 liberated, and which Grady
>Ward then redistributed. It had some tips, as I recall, on what employees
>should tell the curious.)
>
>When I visited the D.C. area in early '91 or '92 (I forget which year it
>was), I stopped by Fort Meade to see the place. The sign out front
>prominently said "National Security Agency," complete with the NSA seal (an
>eagle lifting a hacker up in its talons).
>
>Also, much other evidence points to the NSA having "gone public" much
>farther back in time than 18-30 months ago. Former DIRNSAs on the
>MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour were always introduced as former directors of the
>NSA. As early as the mid-80s, as I recollect. I think Bamford's book pretty
>much outed the name, though it was widely known before that, of course.
>
>(I attended my freshman year of high school in Langley, VA. Through the
>woods on one side of the school was CIA headquarters. At that time, 1967,
>it was still only labelled as something like "Department of Transportation
>Road Testing Facility." Everyone knew what it really was, of course. Rick
>Smith, on this list, was a classmate of mine and can attest to this. The
>CIA "went public" in the early 70s, the NSA in the early 80s, the NRO in
>the early 90s...I sense a pattern. This means the ultra-secret ERO
>(Extraterrestrial Research Organization) will be outed in the opening years
>of the next decade.)
>
>--Tim May
>
>
>Boycott espionage-enabled software!
>We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
>---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
>Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
>tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
>W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
>Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1  | black markets, collapse of governments.
>"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."
>
>
>
>
>
>
Phrack actualy published the manual. I have a local copy if anyone is
interested.
--
==================Douglas Elznic===================
                 delznic@storm.net
           http://www.vcomm.net/~delznic/
            (315)682-5489 (315)682-1647
               4877 Firethorn Circle
                 Manlius, NY 13104
    "Challenge the system, question the rules."
===================================================
PGP key available:
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===================================================