Below is a listing of NSA "DIRgrams" (messages from the director of the NSA to his troops). Surprisingly, few of the DIRgrams (only ten) have been redacted. Of course, this does not mean a DIRgram will be released if requested through FOIA.
Some sample DIRgram titles:
181- Law Day
201- History Channel Poll (I blogged about this one here.)
239- Media Attention
242- NSA and GCHQ Policy on Cooperation and Sharing (Partnership)
312- Closure of Bad Aibling Station
333- Information Sharing with the United Kingdom and Australia
NSA DIRgram List
If anyone is interested in acquiring a particular DIRgram for themselves, just use the NSA's online FOIA submission form and request them. From personal experience, you will receive a response relatively quickly.
Showing posts with label NSA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NSA. Show all posts
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
A NSA Adventure in Internet Polling
On August 23, 2001, then director of the National Security Agency Michael V. Hayden dispatched the following missive to his underlings at the NSA.
DIRgram 201
Initially, I noticed the date of the DIR-GRAM, just 19 days and approximately three hours until the first plane smashed into the WTC. I briefly wondered what the results would have been had the poll been taken on 9-11 until I realized that internet polls are bullshit and that few of those voting in this poll had any knowledge of the American national security appartus on which to base their vote. I could not track down the original poll, most likely long since deleted or purged from the History Channel website, but I doubt they included lesser-known agencies like NCIS (I know NCIS is famous now, but the show that made it famous came out in 2003).
The fourth paragraph was the most striking. While Hayden conceded that "we [The NSA] cannot draw too much from the poll's conclusions, it is encouraging to see tangible evidence that more Americans understand that our purpose and mission has less to do with the film "Enemy of the State," and more to do with protecting the hard won freedoms and liberties that we all enjoy."
However, the NSA is probably the most opaque intelligence operation in the Western world and it only got more secretive after the 9-11 attacks. As I mentioned above, few voters in that poll possessed any relevant knowledge with which to form their judgment. I doubt any study has ever been conducted to determine which of the myriad of intelligence agencies operating in the United States has been the most effective in protecting the United States. What Hayden was or should have been gloating about is that History Channel poll, as much as any online poll can tell you can tell you anything useful, is that the NSA's public relations effort had, at that point, convinced Americans to trust the NSA in terms of both its effectiveness and its trustworthiness.
DIRgram 201
Initially, I noticed the date of the DIR-GRAM, just 19 days and approximately three hours until the first plane smashed into the WTC. I briefly wondered what the results would have been had the poll been taken on 9-11 until I realized that internet polls are bullshit and that few of those voting in this poll had any knowledge of the American national security appartus on which to base their vote. I could not track down the original poll, most likely long since deleted or purged from the History Channel website, but I doubt they included lesser-known agencies like NCIS (I know NCIS is famous now, but the show that made it famous came out in 2003).
The fourth paragraph was the most striking. While Hayden conceded that "we [The NSA] cannot draw too much from the poll's conclusions, it is encouraging to see tangible evidence that more Americans understand that our purpose and mission has less to do with the film "Enemy of the State," and more to do with protecting the hard won freedoms and liberties that we all enjoy."
However, the NSA is probably the most opaque intelligence operation in the Western world and it only got more secretive after the 9-11 attacks. As I mentioned above, few voters in that poll possessed any relevant knowledge with which to form their judgment. I doubt any study has ever been conducted to determine which of the myriad of intelligence agencies operating in the United States has been the most effective in protecting the United States. What Hayden was or should have been gloating about is that History Channel poll, as much as any online poll can tell you can tell you anything useful, is that the NSA's public relations effort had, at that point, convinced Americans to trust the NSA in terms of both its effectiveness and its trustworthiness.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Everywhere You Need to Spy On
A friend of mine submitted to the NSA a FOIA request for information relating the activities of an institution and the National Security Agency. Below is a credit card form included in that response. It seems America's largest and most secret intelligence agency sticks with VISA. A good choice given VISA is everywhere you want to be and life doesn't take American Express. Apparently, neither does the NSA cafeteria. I thought it was amusing plus between my headache and work, I cannot muster the will to conjure up a better post.
NSA Credit Card Form
NSA Credit Card Form
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