National Security Agency Wikipedia. National Security Agency. Seal of the National Security Agency. Flag of the National Security Agency. NSA Headquarters, Fort Meade, Maryland. Agency overview. Formed. November 4, 1. 95. Preceding agency. Armed Forces Security Agency. Headquarters. Fort Meade, Maryland, U. S. 3. 963. 2N7. W 3. N 7. 6. 7. 71. 39W 3. Coordinates 3. 963. Names Of Those Killed In The Salem Witch Trials here. N7. 64. 61. 7W 3. N 7. 6. 7. 71. 39W 3. MottoDefending Our Nation. Securing The Future. Employees. Classified 3. Ever wondered what VPN, LAN, PAN and other networks are Learn what these 11 types of networks do for your data center. Annual budget. Classified estimated 1. Agency executives. Parent agency. United States Department of Defense. Websitewww. nsa. gov. The National Security Agency NSA is a national level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence. The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, specializing in a discipline known as signals intelligence SIGINT. The NSA is also tasked with the protection of U. S. communications networks and information systems. The NSA relies on a variety of measures to accomplish its mission, the majority of which are clandestine. Originating as a unit to decipher coded communications in World War II, it was officially formed as the NSA by President Harry S. Truman in 1. 95. 2. A hard disk drive HDD, hard disk, hard drive or fixed disk is a data storage device that uses magnetic storage to store and retrieve digital information using one. We know youve got a cool bag with some smart ideas inside, so let us know Share your bag in our Lifehacker Go Bag Show and Tell Flickr pool, shoot me a message. Since then, it has become one of the largest U. S. intelligence organizations in terms of personnel and budget. Area Monitoring Network Software Storage Cabinet' title='Area Monitoring Network Software Storage Cabinet' />The NSA currently conducts worldwide mass data collection and has been known to physically bug electronic systems as one method to this end. The NSA has also been alleged to have been behind such attack software as Stuxnet, which severely damaged Irans nuclear program. The NSA, alongside CIA, maintains a physical presence in many countries across the globe the CIANSA joint Special Collection Service a highly classified intelligence team inserts eavesdropping devices in high value targets such as Presidential palaces or embassies. SCS collection tactics allegedly encompass close surveillance, burglary, wiretapping, and breaking and entering. Unlike the Defense Intelligence Agency DIA and the Central Intelligence Agency CIA, both of which specialize primarily in foreign human espionage, the NSA does not publicly conduct human source intelligence gathering. The NSA is entrusted with providing assistance to, and the coordination of, SIGINT elements for other government organizations which are prevented by law from engaging in such activities on their own. As part of these responsibilities, the agency has a co located organization called the Central Security Service CSS, which facilitates cooperation between the NSA and other U. S. defense cryptanalysis components. To further ensure streamlined communication between the signals intelligence community divisions, the NSA Director simultaneously serves as the Commander of the United States Cyber Command and as Chief of the Central Security Service. The NSAs actions have been a matter of political controversy on several occasions, including its spying on anti Vietnam war leaders and the agencys participation in economic espionage. In 2. 01. 3, the NSA had many of its secret surveillance programs revealed to the public by Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor. According to the leaked documents, the NSA intercepts and stores the communications of over a billion people worldwide, including United States citizens. The documents also revealed the NSA tracks hundreds of millions of peoples movements using cellphones metadata. Internationally, research has pointed to the NSAs ability to surveil the domestic Internet traffic of foreign countries through boomerang routing. HistoryeditFormationeditThe origins of the National Security Agency can be traced back to April 2. U. S. Congress declared war on Germany in World War I. A code and cipher decryption unit was established as the Cable and Telegraph Section which was also known as the Cipher Bureau. It was headquartered in Washington, D. C. and was part of the war effort under the executive branch without direct Congressional authorization. During the course of the war it was relocated in the armys organizational chart several times. On July 5, 1. 91. Herbert O. Yardley was assigned to head the unit. At that point, the unit consisted of Yardley and two civilian clerks. It absorbed the navys Cryptanalysis functions in July 1. World War I ended on November 1. Military Intelligence MI 8 moved to New York City on May 2. Code Compilation Company under the direction of Yardley. The Black Chamberedit. Black Chamber cryptanalytic work sheet for solving Japanese diplomatic cipher, 1. After the disbandment of the U. S. Army cryptographic section of military intelligence, known as MI 8, in 1. U. S. government created the Cipher Bureau, also known as Black Chamber. The Black Chamber was the United States first peacetime cryptanalytic organization. Jointly funded by the Army and the State Department, the Cipher Bureau was disguised as a New York Citycommercial code company it actually produced and sold such codes for business use. Its true mission, however, was to break the communications chiefly diplomatic of other nations. Its most notable known success was at the Washington Naval Conference, during which it aided American negotiators considerably by providing them with the decrypted traffic of many of the conference delegations, most notably the Japanese. The Black Chamber successfully persuaded Western Union, the largest U. S. telegram company at the time, as well as several other communications companies to illegally give the Black Chamber access to cable traffic of foreign embassies and consulates. Soon, these companies publicly discontinued their collaboration. Despite the Chambers initial successes, it was shut down in 1. U. S. Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson, who defended his decision by stating, Gentlemen do not read each others mail. World War II and its aftermatheditDuring World War II, the Signal Security Agency SSA was created to intercept and decipher the communications of the Axis powers. When the war ended, the SSA was reorganized as the Army Security Agency ASA, and it was placed under the leadership of the Director of Military Intelligence. On May 2. 0, 1. 94. Armed Forces Security Agency AFSA. This organization was originally established within the U. S. Department of Defense under the command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The AFSA was tasked to direct Department of Defense communications and electronic intelligence activities, except those of U. S. military intelligence units. However, the AFSA was unable to centralize communications intelligence and failed to coordinate with civilian agencies that shared its interests such as the Department of State, Central Intelligence Agency CIA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI. In December 1. 95. President Harry S. Truman ordered a panel to investigate how AFSA had failed to achieve its goals. The results of the investigation led to improvements and its redesignation as the National Security Agency. The agency was formally established by Truman in a memorandum of October 2. National Security Council Intelligence Directive NSCID 9. Since President Trumans memo was a classified document,2. NSA was not known to the public at that time.