NSA warns it can't keep up with rapid changes in IT

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO57808,00.html

By DAN VERTON
February 16, 2001

The National Security Agency, the signals intelligence arm of the
Pentagon, is losing the race to keep up with technology, its director
says. And the IT industry may be the only thing that can save it.

More than a year after the NSA's director, Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden,
announced his "100 Days of Change" to revamp and revitalize an agency
steeped in bureaucracy and outdated technology acquisition practices,
the electronic spy chief went public with warnings of technological
obsolescence. Hayden told a national television audience this week on
CBS's 60 Minutes that the NSA remains behind the rest of the world in
keeping up with IT development.

"We're behind the curve in keeping up with the global
telecommunications revolution," said Hayden. "Our adversary
communications are now based upon the developmental cycle of a global
industry that is literally moving at the speed of light, ... cell
phones, encryption, fiber-optic communications, digital
communications," he said.

The NSA operates the world's largest pool of supercomputers and
eavesdropping networks that are designed to give senior government
leaders such as the president real-time intelligence on the activities
of terrorists and in world hot spots. However, the spread of
encryption, fiber-optic cable and the sheer volume of communications
to be intercepted and analyzed have overcome the NSA's ability to
maintain the technical edge it once held.

The agency's self-proclaimed inability to keep up with commercial
technology has led some to suggest that it might be time for the NSA
to follow in the footsteps of the CIA and form its own private-sector
research firm. In the spring of 1999, the CIA chartered In-Q-Tel Inc.,
a private, not-for-profit firm dedicated to tapping the private
sector's ability to develop cutting-edge IT products that could
enhance the agency's intelligence gathering and processing
capabilities.

Jim Clapper, a former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency who
is now director of intelligence programs at SRA International Inc. in
Fair Lakes, Va., said the In-Q-Tel model is a good idea for the NSA.
Clapper even went as far as to say that he thinks the In-Q-Tel concept
should be expanded to the entire intelligence community as long as
proper funding was made available. "The In-Q-Tel concept is a great
one and would serve NSA well," said Clapper.

"It certainly couldn't hurt," said Allen Thomson, a former CIA
scientist. An In-Q-Tel for the NSA would "allow innovators to make
money without having to deal with the usual government procurement
hassles" and would also act as a buffer to insulate the innovators
from bureaucratic problems, he said.

A spokesperson for Arlington, Va.,-based In-Q-Tel said the company has
briefed a number of other federal agencies on its efforts and "there
continues to be strong interest on the part of entrepreneurs" in
working with the firm.

An NSA spokesperson said an internal agency effort known as Project
Trailblazer has been designed to look at ways to improve the agency's
technology acquisition process. The NSA is also preparing to release a
proposal for a $5 billion outsourcing contract, known as Project
Groundbreaker, that will transfer operation of all of its
administrative networks to one of three bidders (see story).

Olga Grkavac, executive vice president of the Enterprise Solutions
Division at the Information Technology Association of America, called
Groundbreaker "a very innovative contract" and said the three
potential prime contractors -- AT&T Corp., Computer Sciences Corp. in
El Segundo, Calif., and Greenbelt, M.D.-based OAO Corp. -- "have the
expertise that NSA needs."

Bill Crowell, CEO of Cylink Corp. and a former NSA director, said he's
"bullish on the concept of In-Q-Tel" and would favor "any effort
furthering and leveraging the commercial market." In particular, he
said he hoped those efforts would include technology development in
the areas of processing, high speed computing, telecommunications,
security and storage.

But not everybody thinks outsourcing or more money for technology
research is the answer. Winn Schwartau, an information warfare expert
and president of security consulting firm Interpact Inc. in Seminole,
Fla., said the telecommunications revolution is not the problem.
Instead, he said the spread of encryption is the problem.

"The amount of privacy and anonymity that the bad guys have available
to them makes our intelligence job much harder," said Schwartau. "It's
like trying to listen in to a [virtual private network]. You cannot do
it." Rather, the NSA needs to get back to basics and improve its
ability to use human sources and physical taps, he said. "Going after
cryptography with technology is not money well spent."

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