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NSA Tasked With 'Policing' Government Networks

Posted by Zonk on from the grid-overwatch-division dept.

Novus Ordo Seclorum writes "The NSA has a new assignment. No longer merely responsible for signals intelligence, the NSA now has the task of defending against cyber attacks on government and private networks. 'The plan calls for the NSA to work with the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies to monitor such networks to prevent unauthorized intrusion, according to those with knowledge of what is known internally as the 'Cyber Initiative.' Details of the project are highly classified. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, a former NSA chief, is coordinating the initiative. It will be run by the Department of Homeland Security, which has primary responsibility for protecting domestic infrastructure, including the Internet, current and former officials said. At the outset, up to 2,000 people -- from the Department of Homeland Security, the NSA and other agencies -- could be assigned to the initiative, said a senior intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.'"

1 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. This might actually work. by Animats · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This actually makes some sense. NSA has two main divisions - Signals Intelligence, which collects information, and Information Assurance, which tries to protect US information. Traditionally, these were the codebreaking and codemaking sides of the agency.

    It's a boost for NSA Secure Linux. The real intent of NSA Secure Linux, by the way, was not to plug holes in Linux. It was to get something that enforced mandatory security out into the community, so that that applications would be converted to run under stricter rules. For example, a browser should be running as several components, some of which are secure but dumb and some of which are insecure but untrusted. Few application developers picked up on this. That part didn't get enough community attention.

    NSA takes a quite different view of computer security than the "security industry". They're less concerned about annoying high volume attacks, and more concerned about quiet, focused attacks aimed at specific targets. They're also very interested in who's behind the attack, and will devote collection resources to finding out more about the attackers.

    This last may give some attackers something to worry about.