On CNN, Bruce Schneier lays out the current organizational structure of the NSA, dividing its activities in to three categories: spying on specific people; spying on everyone; and breaking the Internet to make spying easier. He then proposes a new structure for the American intelligence apparat: move spying on specific people to a totally separate US Cyber Command under the DoD (“attacking enemy networks is an offensive military operation, and should be part of an offensive military unit”); move spying on Americans to the FBI and create safeguards to be sure this is done in accord with the law and the Constitution; and terminate the NSA’s program of undermining security.
Instead, put the NSA in charge of improving the security of Internet users — including American residents, businesses and government agencies — so that the nation is resilient. As Schneier writes:
“We need the NSA’s expertise to secure our social networks, business systems, computers, phones and critical infrastructure. Just recall the recent incidents of hacked accounts — from Target to Kickstarter. What once seemed occasional now seems routine. Any NSA work to secure our networks and infrastructure can be done openly — no secrecy required.”
First, TAO and its targeted surveillance mission should be moved under the control of U.S. Cyber Command, and Cyber Command should be completely separated from the NSA. Actively attacking enemy networks is an offensive military operation, and should be part of an offensive military unit.
Whatever rules of engagement Cyber Command operates under should apply equally to active operations such as sabotaging the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in Iran and hacking a Belgian telephone company. If we’re going to attack the infrastructure of a foreign nation, let it be a clear military operation.
Second, all surveillance of Americans should be moved to the FBI.
The FBI is charged with counterterrorism in the United States, and it needs to play that role. Any operations focused against U.S. citizens need to be subject to U.S. law, and the FBI is the best place to apply that law. That the NSA can, in the view of many, do an end-run around congressional oversight, legal due process and domestic laws is an affront to our Constitution and a danger to our society. The NSA’s mission should be focused outside the United States — for real, not just for show.
And third, the remainder of the NSA needs to be rebalanced so COMSEC (communications security) has priority over SIGINT (signals intelligence). Instead of working to deliberately weaken security for everyone, the NSA should work to improve security for everyone.
[Bruce Schneier/CNN]