Editing National Security Agency (section)

== History ==
=== Formation ===
The origins of the National Security Agency can be traced back to April 28, 1917, three weeks after the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] declared war on Germany in [[World War I]]. A [[Code (cryptography)|code]] and [[cipher]] decryption unit was established as the Cable and Telegraph Section, which was also known as the Cipher Bureau.<ref>{{cite web |date=2021-08-20 |title=The Black Chamber |url=https://www.nsa.gov/History/Cryptologic-History/Historical-Events/Article-View/Article/2740622/the-black-chamber/ |access-date=23 February 2018 |website=nsa.gov |archive-date=2021-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104224840/https://www.nsa.gov/History/Cryptologic-History/Historical-Events/Article-View/Article/2740622/the-black-chamber/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was headquartered in Washington, D.C., and was part of the war effort under the executive branch without direct congressional authorization. During the war, it was relocated in the army's organizational chart several times. On July 5, 1917, [[Herbert O. Yardley]] was assigned to head the unit. At that point, the unit consisted of Yardley and two [[civilian]] clerks. It absorbed the Navy's [[cryptanalysis]] functions in July 1918. World War I ended on [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|November 11, 1918]], and the army cryptographic section of Military Intelligence (MI-8) moved to New York City on May 20, 1919, where it continued intelligence activities as the Code Compilation Company under the direction of Yardley.<ref>{{cite web |title=Records of the National Security Agency/Central Security Service [NSA/CSS] |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/457.html |access-date=November 22, 2013 |website=National Archives |archive-date=October 14, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061014140149/http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/457.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nsa.gov/news-features/declassified-documents/cryptologic-spectrum/assets/files/many_lives.pdf|title=The Many Lives of Herbert O. Yardley|access-date=May 26, 2016|archive-date=July 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701195112/https://www.nsa.gov/news-features/declassified-documents/cryptologic-spectrum/assets/files/many_lives.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== The Black Chamber ===
{{Main|Black Chamber}}
[[File:Black Chamber cryptanalytic work sheet for solving Japanese diplomatic cipher, 1919 - National Cryptologic Museum - DSC07698.JPG|thumb|right|Black Chamber cryptanalytic work sheet for solving Japanese diplomatic cipher, 1919]]

After the disbandment of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] cryptographic section of military intelligence known as MI-8, the U.S. government created the Cipher Bureau, also known as [[Black Chamber]], in 1919. The Black Chamber was the United States' first peacetime [[cryptanalytic]] organization.<ref>{{cite book |last=Yardley |first=Herbert O. |title=The American Black Chamber |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]] |year=1931 |isbn=978-1-59114-989-7 |location=Annapolis, MD}}</ref> Jointly funded by the Army and the State Department, the Cipher Bureau was disguised as a [[New York City]] [[commercial code (communications)|commercial code]] company; it produced and sold such codes for business use. Its true mission, however, was to break the communications (chiefly diplomatic) of other nations. At the [[Washington Naval Conference]], it aided American negotiators by providing them with the decrypted traffic of many of the conference delegations, including the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]]. The Black Chamber successfully persuaded [[Western Union]], the largest U.S. [[Telegraphy|telegram]] company at the time, as well as several other communications companies, to illegally give the Black Chamber access to cable traffic of foreign embassies and consulates.<ref>{{cite news|last=James Bamford|title=Building America's secret surveillance state|url=http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2013/06/10/building-americas-secret-surveillance-state/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613121507/http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2013/06/10/building-americas-secret-surveillance-state/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 13, 2013|work=Reuters|access-date=November 9, 2013}}</ref> Soon, these companies publicly discontinued their collaboration. Despite the Chamber's initial successes, it was shut down in 1929 by U.S. Secretary of State [[Henry L. Stimson]], who defended his decision by stating, "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail."<ref name="encyc">{{cite book|last1=Hastedt|first1=Glenn P.|title=Spies, wiretaps, and secret operations: An encyclopedia of American espionage|year=2009|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|isbn=978-1-85109-807-1|page=32|author2=Guerrier, Steven W.}}</ref>

=== World War II and its aftermath ===
During [[World War II]], the [[Signal Intelligence Service]] (SIS) was created to intercept and decipher the communications of the [[Axis powers]].<ref name="army mil">{{cite web |title=Army Security Agency Established, 15 September 1945 |url=https://www.army.mil/article/110544/ |author=USAICoE History Office |website=army.mil |date=6 September 2013 |publisher=[[United States Army]] |access-date=November 9, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716133448/https://www.army.mil/article/110544/ |archive-date=July 16, 2020}}</ref> When the war ended, the SIS was reorganized as the [[United States Army Security Agency|Army Security Agency]] (ASA), and it was placed under the leadership of the Director of Military Intelligence.<ref name="army mil" />

On May 20, 1949, all cryptologic activities were centralized under a national organization called the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA).<ref name="army mil" /> This organization was originally established within the [[United States Department of Defense|U.S. Department of Defense]] under the command of the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]].<ref name=Burns>{{cite web |title=The Origins of the National Security Agency 1940–1952 (U)|last=Burns |first=Thomas L. |publisher=National Security Agency |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB278/02.PDF |website=gwu.edu |access-date=November 28, 2020 |page=60 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129024035/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB278/02.PDF |archive-date=November 29, 2020}}</ref> The AFSA was tasked with directing the Department of Defense communications and electronic intelligence activities, except those of U.S. [[military intelligence]] units.<ref name=Burns /> However, the AFSA was unable to centralize [[COMINT|communications intelligence]] and failed to coordinate with civilian agencies that shared its interests, such as the [[United States Department of State|Department of State]], the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) and the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI).<ref name=Burns /> In December 1951, President [[Harry S. Truman]] ordered a panel to investigate how AFSA had failed to achieve its goals. The results of the investigation led to improvements and its redesignation as the National Security Agency.<ref name=NSApt2of3>{{cite web |title=The Creation of NSA – Part 2 of 3: The Brownell Committee |url=https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/crypto_almanac_50th/The_Creation_of_NSA_Part_3.pdf |website=nsa.gov |publisher=National Security Agency |access-date=July 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130918015612/http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/crypto_almanac_50th/The_Creation_of_NSA_Part_3.pdf |archive-date=September 18, 2013 }}</ref>

The [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] issued a memorandum of October 24, 1952, that revised [[National Security Council Intelligence Directives|National Security Council Intelligence Directive (NSCID) 9]]. On the same day, Truman issued a second memorandum that called for the establishment of the NSA.<ref name=Truman>{{cite web |title=Memorandum |author=Truman, Harry S. |url=https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/truman/truman_memo.pdf |website=nsa.gov |publisher=National Security Agency |date=October 24, 1952 |access-date=July 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821073605/http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/truman/truman_memo.pdf |archive-date=August 21, 2013 }}</ref> The actual establishment of the NSA was done by a November 4 memo by [[Robert A. Lovett]], the [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]], changing the name of the AFSA to the NSA, and making the new agency responsible for all communications intelligence.<ref>{{cite web |first=Thomas L. |last=Burns |url=https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/cryptologic_histories/origins_of_nsa.pdf |title=The Origins of the National Security Agency |year=1990 |publisher=National Security Agency |series=United States Cryptologic History |volume=1 |pages=107–08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322122158/https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/cryptologic_histories/origins_of_nsa.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-22 |df=mdy-all |access-date=2016-08-23 }}</ref> Since President Truman's memo was a [[classified information|classified]] document,<ref name=Truman /> the existence of the NSA was not known to the public at that time. Due to its ultra-secrecy, the U.S. intelligence community referred to the NSA as "No Such Agency".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/no-such-agency-spies-on-the-communications-of-the-world/2013/06/06/5bcd46a6-ceb9-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html|title='No Such Agency' spies on the communications of the world|last=Anne Gearan|date=June 7, 2013|access-date=November 9, 2013|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|archive-date=December 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225234416/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/no-such-agency-spies-on-the-communications-of-the-world/2013/06/06/5bcd46a6-ceb9-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Vietnam War ===
{{Main|Project MINARET|NESTOR (encryption)}}
In the 1960s, the NSA played a key role in expanding American commitment to the [[Vietnam War]] by providing evidence of a [[North Vietnam]]ese attack on the American Naval destroyer {{USS|Maddox|DD-731|6}} during the [[Gulf of Tonkin incident]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Scott |last=Shane |title=Vietnam Study, Casting Doubts, Remains Secret |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/politics/31war.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 31, 2005 |quote=The National Security Agency has kept secret since 2001 a finding by an agency historian that during the Tonkin Gulf episode, which helped precipitate the Vietnam War |access-date=June 7, 2024 |archive-date=March 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328104601/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/politics/31war.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A secret operation, code-named "[[Project MINARET|MINARET]]", was set up by the NSA to monitor the phone communications of Senators [[Frank Church]] and [[Howard Baker]], as well as key leaders of the [[civil rights movement]], including [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], and prominent U.S. journalists and athletes who criticized the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name=Minaret>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/26/nsa-surveillance-anti-vietnam-muhammad-ali-mlk "Declassified NSA Files Show Agency Spied on Muhammad Ali and MLK Operation Minaret Set Up in the 1960s to Monitor Anti-Vietnam Critics, Branded 'Disreputable If Not Outright Illegal' by NSA Itself"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926154853/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/26/nsa-surveillance-anti-vietnam-muhammad-ali-mlk |date=2013-09-26 }} ''The Guardian'', September 26, 2013</ref> However, the project turned out to be controversial, and an internal review by the NSA concluded that its Minaret program was "disreputable if not outright illegal".<ref name=Minaret />

The NSA has mounted a major effort to secure tactical communications among U.S. armed forces during the war with mixed success. The [[NESTOR (encryption)|NESTOR]] family of compatible [[secure voice]] systems it developed was widely deployed during the [[Vietnam War]], with about 30,000 NESTOR sets produced. However, a variety of technical and operational problems limited their use, allowing the North Vietnamese to exploit and intercept U.S. communications.<ref name=boaklectures>{{Cite book|last=Boak|first=David G.|title=A History of U.S. Communications Security; the David G. Boak Lectures, Vol. 1|orig-year=1966|url=https://www.governmentattic.org/18docs/Hist_US_COMSEC_Boak_NSA_1973u.pdf|access-date=2017-04-23|edition=2015 partial declassification|date=July 1973|publisher=U.S. National Security Agency|location=Ft. George G. Meade, MD|archive-date=2017-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525181251/https://www.governmentattic.org/18docs/Hist_US_COMSEC_Boak_NSA_1973u.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{rp|Vol I, p.79}}

=== Church Committee hearings ===
{{Further|Church Committee|Watergate scandal}}

In the aftermath of the [[Watergate scandal]], a congressional hearing in 1975 led by Senator [[Frank Church]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/homefront/preemption/telecoms.html|title=Pre-Emption – The Nsa And The Telecoms – Spying On The Home Front – FRONTLINE – PBS|work=pbs.org|access-date=2024-06-07|archive-date=2007-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070518115305/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/homefront/preemption/telecoms.html|url-status=live}}</ref> revealed that the NSA, in collaboration with Britain's SIGINT intelligence agency, [[Government Communications Headquarters]] (GCHQ), had routinely intercepted the international communications of prominent anti-Vietnam war leaders such as [[Jane Fonda]] and Dr. [[Benjamin Spock]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Cohen |first=Martin |title=No Holiday: 80 Places You Don't Want to Visit |location=New York |publisher=Disinformation Company Ltd |isbn=978-1-932857-29-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pj1_-1a79kkC&q=9781932857290 |access-date=March 14, 2014|year=2006 }}</ref> The NSA tracked these individuals in a secret filing system that was destroyed in 1974.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Security Agency Tracking of U.S. Citizens – "Questionable Practices" from 1960s & 1970s|editor=William Burr|publisher=[[National Security Archive]]|url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cybervault-intelligence-nuclear-vault/2017-09-25/national-security-agency-tracking-us|access-date=August 2, 2018|date=September 25, 2017|archive-date=January 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103044145/https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cybervault-intelligence-nuclear-vault/2017-09-25/national-security-agency-tracking-us|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the resignation of President [[Richard Nixon]], there were several investigations into suspected misuse of FBI, CIA and NSA facilities.<ref name=Moyers-2007 /> Senator [[Frank Church]] uncovered previously unknown activity,<ref name=Moyers-2007 /> such as a CIA plot (ordered by the administration of President [[John F. Kennedy]]) to assassinate [[Fidel Castro]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/pdfs94th/94755_IV.pdf|title=Book IV, Supplementary Detailed Staff Reports on Foreign and Military Intelligence (94th Congress, Senate report 94-755)|date=April 23, 1976|publisher=United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence|access-date=June 28, 2013|page=67 (72)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922044847/http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/pdfs94th/94755_IV.pdf|archive-date=September 22, 2013}}</ref> The investigation also uncovered NSA's wiretaps on targeted U.S. citizens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/pdfs94th/94755_II.pdf|title=Book II, Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans (94th Congress, Senate report 94-755)|date=April 26, 1976|publisher=United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence|access-date=June 28, 2013|page=124 (108)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521200703/https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/pdfs94th/94755_II.pdf|archive-date=May 21, 2013}}</ref> After the Church Committee hearings, the [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]] of 1978 was passed. This was designed to limit the practice of [[mass surveillance in the United States]].<ref name=Moyers-2007>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10262007/profile2.html|title=The Church Committee and FISA|date=October 26, 2007|author=Bill Moyers Journal|publisher=Public Affairs Television|access-date=June 28, 2013|archive-date=June 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616003831/http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10262007/profile2.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 1980s to 1990s ===
In 1986, the NSA intercepted the communications of the Libyan government during the immediate aftermath of the [[1986 Berlin discotheque bombing|Berlin discotheque bombing]]. The [[White House]] asserted that the NSA interception had provided "irrefutable" evidence that Libya was behind the bombing, which U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] cited as a justification for the [[1986 United States bombing of Libya]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Seymour M. Hersh|title=Target Qaddafi|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/22/magazine/target-qaddafi.html?pagewanted=all|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=January 12, 2014|date=February 22, 1987|archive-date=January 24, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140124070854/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/22/magazine/target-qaddafi.html?pagewanted=all|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=David Wise|title=Espionage Case Pits CIA Against News Media|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-05-18-op-21101-story.html|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=January 12, 2014|date=May 18, 1986|quote=the President took an unprecedented step in discussing the content of the Libyan cables. He was, by implication, revealing that the NSA had broken the Libyan code.|archive-date=January 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113125722/http://articles.latimes.com/1986-05-18/opinion/op-21101_1_news-media/2|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1999, a multi-year investigation by the European Parliament highlighted the NSA's role in economic espionage in a report entitled 'Development of Surveillance Technology and Risk of Abuse of Economic Information'.<ref>{{cite report |author=Peggy Becker |date=October 1999 |title=Development of Surveillance Technology and Risk of Abuse of Economic Information |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/stoa/cms/cache/offonce/home/publications/studies?page=12 |publisher=STOA, European Parliament |page=12 |access-date=November 3, 2013 |archive-date=January 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125141702/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/stoa/cms/cache/offonce/home/publications/studies?page=12 |url-status=dead }}</ref> That year, the NSA founded the [[NSA Hall of Honor]], a memorial at the [[National Cryptologic Museum]] in Fort Meade, Maryland.<ref name=SunHall /> The memorial is a, "tribute to the pioneers and heroes who have made significant and long-lasting contributions to American cryptology".<ref name=SunHall /> NSA employees must be retired for more than fifteen years to qualify for the memorial.<ref name=SunHall>{{cite news|author=Staff|title=NSA honors 4 in the science of codes|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2003/06/13/nsa-honors-4-in-the-science-of-codes/|date=June 13, 2003|work=The Baltimore Sun|publisher=Tribune Company|access-date=June 11, 2013|archive-date=June 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614020759/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-06-13/news/0306130156_1_cryptology-hall-of-honor-pioneers|url-status=live}}</ref>

NSA's infrastructure deteriorated in the 1990s as defense budget cuts resulted in maintenance deferrals. On January 24, 2000, NSA headquarters suffered a total network outage for three days caused by an overloaded network. Incoming traffic was successfully stored on agency servers, but it could not be directed and processed. The agency carried out emergency repairs for $3&nbsp;million to get the system running again (some incoming traffic was also directed instead to Britain's [[GCHQ]] for the time being). Director [[Michael Hayden (general)|Michael Hayden]] called the outage a "wake-up call" for the need to invest in the agency's infrastructure.<ref>{{cite book|title=Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency|author=James Bamford|page=454 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VqY4Wr3T5K4C&pg=PA454|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|date=2007|isbn=978-0-307-42505-8}}</ref>

In the 1990s the defensive arm of the NSA—the Information Assurance Directorate (IAD)—started working more openly; the first public technical talk by an NSA scientist at a major cryptography conference was J. Solinas' presentation on efficient [[Elliptic-curve cryptography|Elliptic Curve Cryptography]] algorithms at Crypto 1997.<ref>{{cite book|last=Koblitz|first=Neal|title=Random Curves: Journeys of a Mathematician|publisher=Springer-Verlag|year=2008|page=312|isbn=9783540740773}}</ref> The IAD's cooperative approach to academia and industry culminated in its support for a [[Advanced Encryption Standard process|transparent process]] for replacing the outdated [[Data Encryption Standard]] (DES) by an [[Advanced Encryption Standard]] (AES). Cybersecurity policy expert [[Susan Landau]] attributes the NSA's harmonious collaboration with industry and academia in the selection of the AES in 2000—and the Agency's support for the choice of a strong encryption algorithm designed by Europeans rather than by Americans—to [[Brian Snow]], who was the Technical Director of IAD and represented the NSA as cochairman of the Technical Working Group for the AES competition, and Michael Jacobs, who headed IAD at the time.<ref>{{citation|last=Landau|first=Susan|title=NSA and Dual EC_DRBG: Déjà Vu All Over Again?|journal=The Mathematical Intelligencer|volume=37|issue=4|year=2015|pages=72–83|doi=10.1007/s00283-015-9543-z|s2cid=124392006}}</ref>{{rp|75}}

After the [[September 11 attacks|terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001]], the NSA believed that it had public support for a dramatic expansion of its surveillance activities.<ref name="teleg">{{cite news|last=Curtis|first=Sophie|title=Ex-NSA technical chief: How 9/11 created the surveillance state|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=13 November 2014|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet-security/11221287/Ex-NSA-technical-chief-How-911-created-the-surveillance-state.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet-security/11221287/Ex-NSA-technical-chief-How-911-created-the-surveillance-state.html |archive-date=2022-01-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref> According to [[Neal Koblitz]] and [[Alfred Menezes]], the period when the NSA was a trusted partner with academia and industry in the development of cryptographic standards started to come to an end when, as part of the change in the NSA in the post-September 11 era, Snow was replaced as Technical Director, Jacobs retired, and IAD could no longer effectively oppose proposed actions by the offensive arm of the NSA.<ref>"In 2002 Brian Snow was moved from the technical directorship of IAD to a different position within the NSA that had high status but little influence, particularly about actions that were being proposed by SIGINT; Mike Jacobs retired from the NSA the same year." {{citation|last1=Koblitz|first1=Neal|last2=Menezes|first2=Alfred J.|title=A riddle wrapped in an enigma|journal=IEEE Security & Privacy|volume=14|issue=6|year=2016|pages=34–42|doi=10.1109/MSP.2016.120|s2cid=2310733}} Footnote 9 in the full version, see {{cite web|title=A riddle wrapped in an enigma|url=https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/1018.pdf|access-date=12 April 2018|archive-date=3 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203040151/https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/1018.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== War on Terror ===
In the aftermath of the [[September 11 attacks]], the NSA created new IT systems to deal with the flood of information from new technologies like the Internet and cell phones. [[ThinThread]] contained advanced [[data mining]] capabilities. It also had a "privacy mechanism"; surveillance was stored encrypted; decryption required a warrant. The research done under this program may have contributed to the technology used in later systems. ThinThread was canceled when Michael Hayden chose [[Trailblazer Project|Trailblazer]], which did not include ThinThread's privacy system.<ref name="Sun">{{cite news|first=Siobhan|last=Gorman|title=NSA killed system that sifted phone data legally|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.nsa18may18,1,5386811.story|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|publisher=[[Tribune Company]] (Chicago, IL)|date=May 17, 2006|access-date=March 7, 2008|quote=The privacy protections offered by ThinThread were also abandoned in the post–September 11 push by the president for a faster response to terrorism.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927193047/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.nsa18may18%2C1%2C5386811.story?ctrack=1&cset=true|archive-date=September 27, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Trailblazer Project]] ramped up in 2002 and was worked on by [[Science Applications International Corporation]] (SAIC), [[Boeing]], [[Computer Sciences Corporation]], [[IBM]], and [[Litton Industries]]. Some NSA [[whistleblower]]s complained internally about major problems surrounding Trailblazer. This led to investigations by Congress and the NSA and DoD [[Inspectors General]]. The project was canceled in early 2004. [[Turbulence (NSA)|Turbulence]] started in 2005. It was developed in small, inexpensive "test" pieces, rather than one grand plan like Trailblazer. It also included offensive cyber-warfare capabilities, like injecting [[malware]] into remote computers. Congress criticized Turbulence in 2007 for having similar bureaucratic problems as Trailblazer.<ref name=Bamford325>Bamford, [[Shadow Factory]], pp. 325–340.</ref> It was to be a realization of information processing at higher speeds in cyberspace.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/bal-nsa050607,0,1517618.story|title=Management shortcomings seen at NSA|author=Baltimore Sun|date=May 6, 2007|work=baltimoresun.com|access-date=January 31, 2013|archive-date=April 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130422092946/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/bal-nsa050607,0,1517618.story|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Global surveillance program disclosures ===
{{Main|Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)|l2=|selfref=}}

The massive extent of the NSA's spying, both foreign and domestic, was revealed to the public in a series of detailed disclosures of internal NSA documents beginning in June 2013. Most of the disclosures were leaked by former NSA contractor [[Edward Snowden]]. On 4 September 2020, the NSA's surveillance program was ruled unlawful by the [[United States Courts of Appeals|US Court of Appeals]]. The court also added that the US intelligence leaders, who publicly defended it, were not telling the truth.<ref name="unlawful2020">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54013527|title=NSA surveillance exposed by Snowden ruled unlawful|work=BBC News|date=3 September 2020|access-date=4 September 2020|archive-date=3 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903213041/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54013527|url-status=live}}</ref>