National Security Agency: Difference between revisions

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 === Personnel security ===
-The NSA received criticism early on in 1960 after two agents had defected to the [[Soviet Union]]. Investigations by the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] and a special subcommittee of the [[United States House Committee on Armed Services]] revealed severe cases of ignorance of personnel security regulations, prompting the former personnel director and the director of security to step down and leading to the adoption of stricter security practices.<ref name="Kahn">David Kahn, ''The Codebreakers'', Scribner Press, 1967, chapter 19, pp. 672–733.</ref> Nonetheless, security breaches reoccurred only a year later when in an issue of ''[[Izvestia]]'' of July 23, 1963, a former NSA employee published several cryptologic secrets.
+The NSA received criticism early on in 1960 after two agents had defected to the Soviet Union. Investigations by the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] and a special subcommittee of the [[United States House Committee on Armed Services]] revealed severe cases of ignorance of personnel security regulations, prompting the former personnel director and the director of security to step down and leading to the adoption of stricter security practices.<ref name="Kahn">David Kahn, ''The Codebreakers'', Scribner Press, 1967, chapter 19, pp. 672–733.</ref> Nonetheless, security breaches reoccurred only a year later when in an issue of ''[[Izvestia]]'' of July 23, 1963, a former NSA employee published several cryptologic secrets.
 The very same day, an NSA clerk-messenger committed [[suicide]] as ongoing investigations disclosed that he had sold secret information to the Soviets regularly. The reluctance of congressional houses to look into these affairs prompted a journalist to write, "If a similar series of tragic blunders occurred in any ordinary agency of Government an aroused public would insist that those responsible be officially censured, demoted, or fired." [[David Kahn (writer)|David Kahn]] criticized the NSA's tactics of concealing its doings as smug and the Congress' blind faith in the agency's right-doing as shortsighted, and pointed out the necessity of surveillance by the Congress to prevent abuse of power.<ref name="Kahn" />
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 [[File:NSA-Fort Meade-1950.png|thumb|Headquarters at [[Fort Meade]] circa 1950s]]
-When the agency was first established, its headquarters and cryptographic center were in the Naval Security Station in Washington, D.C. The COMINT functions were located in [[Arlington Hall]] in [[Northern Virginia]], which served as the headquarters of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]'s cryptographic operations.<ref name=60yearsp15>{{cite web|title=60 Years of Defending Our Nation|publisher=National Security Agency|year=2012|url=https://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/60th/book/NSA_60th_Anniversary.pdf|access-date=July 6, 2013|page=15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614022314/http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/60th/book/NSA_60th_Anniversary.pdf|archive-date=2013-06-14|url-status=dead}}</ref> Because the [[Soviet Union]] had detonated a nuclear bomb and because the facilities were crowded, the federal government wanted to move several agencies, including the AFSA/NSA. A planning committee considered [[Fort Knox]], but [[Fort George G. Meade|Fort Meade]], [[Maryland]], was ultimately chosen as NSA headquarters because it was far enough away from Washington, D.C. in case of a nuclear strike and was close enough so its employees would not have to move their families.<ref name="60yearsp10" />
+When the agency was first established, its headquarters and cryptographic center were in the Naval Security Station in Washington, D.C. The COMINT functions were located in [[Arlington Hall]] in [[Northern Virginia]], which served as the headquarters of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]'s cryptographic operations.<ref name=60yearsp15>{{cite web|title=60 Years of Defending Our Nation|publisher=National Security Agency|year=2012|url=https://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/60th/book/NSA_60th_Anniversary.pdf|access-date=July 6, 2013|page=15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614022314/http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/60th/book/NSA_60th_Anniversary.pdf|archive-date=2013-06-14|url-status=dead}}</ref> Because the Soviet Union had detonated a nuclear bomb and because the facilities were crowded, the federal government wanted to move several agencies, including the AFSA/NSA. A planning committee considered [[Fort Knox]], but [[Fort George G. Meade|Fort Meade]], [[Maryland]], was ultimately chosen as NSA headquarters because it was far enough away from Washington, D.C. in case of a nuclear strike and was close enough so its employees would not have to move their families.<ref name="60yearsp10" />
 Construction of additional buildings began after the agency occupied buildings at Fort Meade in the late 1950s, which they soon outgrew.<ref name=60yearsp10>{{cite web|title=60 Years of Defending Our Nation|publisher=National Security Agency|year=2012|url=https://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/60th/book/NSA_60th_Anniversary.pdf|access-date=July 6, 2013|page=10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614022314/http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/60th/book/NSA_60th_Anniversary.pdf|archive-date=2013-06-14|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1963 the new headquarters building, nine stories tall, opened. NSA workers referred to the building as the "Headquarters Building" and since the NSA management occupied the top floor, workers used "Ninth Floor" to refer to their leaders.<ref>{{cite web|title=60 Years of Defending Our Nation|publisher=National Security Agency|year=2012|url=https://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/60th/book/NSA_60th_Anniversary.pdf|access-date=July 6, 2013|page=23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614022314/http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/60th/book/NSA_60th_Anniversary.pdf|archive-date=2013-06-14|url-status=dead}}</ref> COMSEC remained in Washington, D.C., until its new building was completed in 1968.<ref name=60yearsp10 /> In September 1986, the Operations 2A and 2B buildings, both copper-shielded to prevent [[eavesdropping]], opened with a dedication by President [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref name=60yearsp39 /> The four NSA buildings became known as the "Big Four."<ref name=60yearsp39 /> The NSA director moved to 2B when it opened.<ref name=60yearsp39>{{cite web|title=60 Years of Defending Our Nation|publisher=National Security Agency|year=2012|url=https://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/60th/book/NSA_60th_Anniversary.pdf|access-date=July 6, 2013|page=39|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614022314/http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/60th/book/NSA_60th_Anniversary.pdf|archive-date=2013-06-14|url-status=dead}}</ref>