It's Time To Split Up NSA Between Spooks and Geeks

Hugh Pickens writes "Noah Shachtman writes in Wired that most of us know the National Security Agency as the supersecret spook shop that allegedly slurped up our email and phone calls after the September 11 attacks, but not so many know that the NSA is actually home to two different agencies under one roof: the signals-intelligence directorate, who can tap into any electronic communication, and the information-assurance directorate, the cybersecurity nerds who make sure our government's computers and telecommunications systems are hacker- and eavesdropper-free. 'The problem is, their goals are often in opposition,' writes Shachtman. 'One team wants to exploit software holes; the other wants to repair them.' Users want to know that Google is safeguarding their data and privacy. The trouble is that when Google calls the NSA, everyone watching sees it as a package deal. Google wants geeks, but it runs the risk of getting spies, too."

Comments

Why does Google need to 'partner' with the NSA?

[mschuyler]

Aren't they smart enough and rich enough to hire their own geeks? SIGINT is the main job of NSA, period. If you want to hire the wolf to guard the hen house, you take the consequences.

Re:Two sides of the same coin

[budgenator]

I've read the article twice and it doesn't support it's own conclusion, if you except as a given that the NSA is bad, a loose cannon in regards to real American's rights it follows logically, if you don't think the NSA is inherently bad the article just panders to the tinfoil hat crowd. Google, an American Corp, and many other Corporations were attacked by an entity that appears was either the Chinese Government, a proxy of the Chinese Government or an entity specifically trying to make it look like the Chinese Government for their own nefarious purposes. Getting the "big guns" involved to help sort out the mess is the only reasonable response, it's what they are supposed to do and what they do.