AP Wire Story on NSA Manual

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

NSA from A-1
Semiconfidential
rules circulate


By Keay Davidson
EXAMINER SCIENCE WRITER
   It arrived mysteriously at an Austin, Texas, post office box by ""snail
mail'' - computerese for the Postal Service.
   But once the National Security Agency's employee handbook was translated
into bits and bytes, it took only minutes to circulate across the country.
   Thus did a computer hacker in Texas display his disdain for government
secrecy last week - by feeding into public computer networks the
semiconfidential document, which describes an agency that, during the darkest
days of the Cold War, didn't officially ""exist.''
   Now, anyone with a computer, telephone, modem and basic computer skills
can read the 36-page manual, which is stamped ""FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY'' and
offers a glimpse of the shadowy world of U.S. intelligence - and the personal
price its inhabitants pay.
   New NSA employees are warned:
   ""Your home, car pool, and public places are not authorized areas to
conduct classified discussions - even if everyone involved in the discussion
possesses a proper clearance and "need-to-know.' The possibility that a
conversation could be overheard by unauthorized persons dictates the need to
guard against classified discussions in non-secure areas.''
   The manual includes a list of telephone numbers for NSA offices including
the cryptically named ""Agency Anonymity'' and ""Cipher Lock Repair,'' and
the not-so-cryptic ""Alcohol Rehabilitation Program'' and ""Disposal of
Classified Waste.''
"Anal retentive and paranoid'
      The manual is ""so anal retentive and paranoid. This gives you some
insight into how they think,'' said Chris Goggans, the Austin hacker who
unleashed it on the computer world. His on-line nom de plume is ""Erik
Bloodaxe'' because ""when I was about 11, I read a book on Vikings, and that
name really struck me.''
   NSA spokeswoman Judi Emmel said Tuesday that ""apparently this document is
an (NSA) employee handbook, and it is not classified.''    Rather, it is an
official NSA employee manual and falls into a twilight zone of secrecy. On
one hand, it's ""unclassified.'' On the other hand, it's ""FOR OFFICIAL USE
ONLY'' and can be obtained only by filing a formal request under the U.S.
Freedom of Information Act, Emmel said.
   ""While you may take this handbook home for further study, remember that
it does contain "FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY' information which should be
protected,'' the manual warns. Unauthorized release of such information could
result in ""appropriate administrative action ... (and) corrective and/or
disciplinary measures.''
   Goggans, 25, runs an on-line electronic ""magazine'' for computer hackers
called Phrack, which caters to what he calls the ""computer underground.'' He
is also a computer engineer at an Austin firm, which he refuses to name.
   The manual recently arrived at Goggans' post office box in a white
envelope with no return address, save a postmark from a Silicon Valley
location, he says. Convinced it was authentic, he typed it into his computer,
then copied it into the latest issue of Phrack.
Private life not private
      Other hackers, like Grady Ward of Arcata, Humboldt County, and Jeff
Leroy Davis of Laramie, Wyo., redistributed the electronic files to computer
users' groups. These included one run by the Cambridge, Mass.-based
Electronic Frontier Foundation, which fights to protect free speech on
computer networks.
    Ward said he helped redistribute the NSA manual ""to embarrass the NSA''
and prove that even the U.S. government's most covert agency can't keep
documents secret.
   The action also was aimed at undermining a federal push for
data-encryption regulations that would let the government tap into computer
networks, Ward said.
    In the NSA, one's private life ceases to be private: A ""waiver must be
granted in advance of a marriage to or cohabitation with a foreign national
in order to retain one's access to NSA information ...'' the manual says.
""The marriage or intended marriage of an immediate family member (parents,
siblings, children) to a foreign national must also be reported. ... All
personnel, either employed by or assigned to NSA, must advise the Office of
Security of any changes in their marital status (either marriage or divorce),
cohabitation arrangements, or legal name changes.''
   There's nothing wrong with ""casual social associations with foreign
nationals,'' but during such associations ""you are encouraged to extend the
usual social amenities. Do not act mysteriously or draw attention to yourself
(and possibly to NSA) by displaying an unusually wary attitude.''
   None of the hackers thought he or she had done anything unpatriotic.
   ""The cloak of secrecy that the intelligence communities operate behind is
an archaic paradigm of global warfare,'' said Davis, whose business card
identifies him as an ""Outlaw Transcendentalist.''
   ""The Cold War's over ...'' Davis said. ""What, is a terrorist group going
to call the National Security Agency alcoholism hot line and say, "Hey, I
have a drinking problem, can I come in?'''

--
PGP PUBLIC KEY via finger!  JAFEFFM  Speaking & Thinking For Myself!


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