NSA is Planning to Secure Domestic as Well as Government Information

The National Security Agency is drawing up plans for its new domestic assignment which will entail helping protect government and private communications networks from cyberattacks and infiltration by terrorists and hackers, according to current and former intelligence officials.^[1]

This is a major step since electricity grids, subways, nuclear power plants, and national defense all depend more than ever on Internet-based control systems that could be manipulated remotely in a terrorist attack.^[2]

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is coordinating the initiative, where 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; the plan is known internally as the "Cyber Initiative."^[3]

The NSA's new domestic role would require a revision of the agency's charter, because up to now, the NSA's cyberdefense tools have been used to guard the government's classified networks and not the massive unclassified networks that now are the responsibility of other federal agencies.^[4]

"As the lead agency responsible for assuring the security, resiliency and reliability of the nation's information technology and communications infrastructure, our department is working to unify further and integrate the security framework for cyber operations throughout the federal government," asserted Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke.^[5]

However intelligence officials, including several NSA veterans, warned that the agency's venture into domestic computer and communications networks even if limited to protecting them could raise new privacy concerns.^[6] The problematic issue is that to protect a network, the government must constantly monitor it.

The NSA, as has been previously reported on this blog, is already mired in controversy for their warrantless wiretapping programs. Is taking over cybersecurity for the whole nation something that the public will tolerate or allow? President Bush seems to think so.

President Bush called on Congress to make permanent a law that gives the government broad authority to eavesdrop without warrants on phone calls, e-mail and other communication between people in the United States and suspected terrorists abroad.^[7]

The president wants Congress to extend the law, set to expire in February that allows spy agencies to intercept the communications of suspected terrorists that pass through U.S. switching facilities.^[8] "It is the job of Congress to give the professionals the tools they need to do their work as effectively as possible," Bush said during a visit to the headquarters of the National Security Agency in Fort Meade.^[9]

This may prove to be a tough sell to a public that is already skeptical about the security measures taken by this administration. However Mike McConnell is trying to assuage those fears, asserting to the House Judiciary Committee that since he took office the government has conducted electronic surveillance only after seeking court-approved warrants.^[10]

McConnell’s testimony Tuesday, Sept. 18, was the first time he has publicly said that the warrantless wiretapping of Americans has actually been ended.^[11] Perhaps this statement was an effort to make the news that the NSA will be in charge of all cyber security, an easier pill for the public to swallow.

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^[1] Siobhan Gorman, NSA to defend against hackers, Baltimore Sun, September 20, 2007, available at http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.nsa20sep20,0,5183239,full.story (last visit September 20, 2007).
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Michael A. Fletcher, Bush Asks Congress to Extend NSA Program, Washington Post, September 19, 2007 available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/19/AR2007091901111.html?hpid=topnews (last visited September 20, 2007).
^[8] Id.
^[9] Id.
^[10] James Risen, Warrantless Wiretaps Not Used, Official Says, New York Times, September 19, 2007, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/washington/19nsa.html (last visited September 20, 2007).
^[11] Id.