National Security Agency - The Black Vault

1990s
NSA and the CSS continued
collecting signals from the Soviet
Union and Warsaw Pact nations
throughout the 1990s, right up
until the fall of the Berlin Wall
and the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
NSA analysts, drawing on vast experience,
provided unique intelligence information of
significant value to national decision-makers and
policymakers in peace, crisis, and war.
While there was rejoicing over the fact that
United States and the West had “won” the Cold
War, the end of the Soviet threat forced NSA
and the Nation to adjust to a strange new world
where few, if any, rules existed, and where
asymmetrical warfare was now the rule rather
than the exception.
The End of
an Era
80 60 Years of Defending Our Nation National Security Agency • Central Security Service
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The monolithic Soviet target was quickly
replaced by newer targets, including nonstate
actors who made good use of the latest
technology. Widely available commercial
products enabled rapid and radical changes
in communications methods and procedures,
and targets displayed a growing knowledge of
communications security techniques.
Lifting the Cryptologic Curtain
After the Cold War, NSA leadership began to
consider ways that the Agency could be a bit
more open in its relationship with the general
public. From NSA’s inception, security and
anonymity had been the main watchwords and,
since 1952, the curtain over the Agency had
been pulled fully to the ground. Now, however,
The C-130 aircraft, pictured here landing at Fort Meade,
was refurbished to resemble the C-130 downed by Soviets
in 1958 and is the centerpiece of National Vigilance Park.
Years of Defending Our Nation 81