10 Things To Know About The NSA

10 Things To Know About The NSA -- Politico

The National Security Agency is in the spotlight after Edward Snowden leaked to the media information about a secret surveillance program. Gen. Keith Alexander, chief of both the National Security Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command has briefed members of Congress and is testifying on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. But what is the NSA and what does it do? Here are 10 things to know about this secretive agency:

1. Established on Nov. 4, 1952 by then-President Harry Truman, the “creation of of NSA allowed the the Defense Department to consolidate cryptologic support to military operations, and to meet challenges that the nation would face in the Cold War.”

2. The agency’s mission is to prevent “foreign adversaries from gaining access to sensitive or classified national security information,” as well as collecting “intelligence information from foreign signals for intelligence and counterintelligence purposes and to support military operations.”

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WNU Editor: The above documentary on the NSA is done by National Geographic.