Appendix C. NSA Guidelines

NOTE

Much of the material in this appendix is quoted directly from the relevant websites that are listed at the end of the appendix.

According to its website, the National Security Agency (NSA) "is the cryptologic organization in the U.S. It coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to protect American information systems and produce foreign intelligence information. NSA is a high technology organization, and as such it is on the frontier of communications and data processing. It is also one of the most important centers of foreign language analysis and research within the U.S. government. Some NSA R&D projects have significantly advanced the state-of-the-art in the scientific and business worlds. NSA's early interest in cryptanalytic research led to the first large-scale computer and the first solid-state computer, predecessors to the modern computer."

Also according to the NSA website, "NSA employs some of the world's premier codemakers and codebreakers. It is said to be the largest employer of mathematicians in the U.S." Its mathematicians contribute directly to the two missions of the NSA:

Designing cipher systems that protect the integrity of U.S. information systems
Searching for weaknesses in adversaries' systems and codes

Because of the rapid change of the world and its technology, employees need training programs to stay ahead. The National Cryptologic School is indicative of the NSA's commitment to professional development. The school not only provides unique training for the NSA workforce, but it also serves as a training resource for the entire Department of Defense. NSA sponsors employees for bachelor and graduate studies at the United States' top universities and colleges, and selected NSA employees attend the various war colleges of the U.S. Armed Forces.