National Security Agency - The Black Vault

1990s
1990s
President Bill Clinton thanks
Admiral McConnell for NSA support.
NSA and the Information Revolution
The 1990s saw the beginnings of the
Information Revolution. Advancement in
communications technology was happening
rapidly, and it became increasingly difficult to
keep pace with the changes. Simultaneously
many in Congress and the Executive Branch
began to view NSA as a lumbering agency that
had lost its technical edge. For the first time, NSA
and its partners in the defense and intelligence
communities were forced to justify their
existence to Congress and the Nation.
NSA was struggling to adapt to the technological
challenges of the new geopolitical climate,
as well as the tough realities of reorienting
and retooling its workforce. Despite these
challenges, Agency leaders were well aware of
their responsibility to somehow find a way to
maintain NSA’s mission to provide and protect
America’s most important communications in an
ever changing world.
Clipper Chip
Technology advances in the 90s forced the
Agency to take new and different approaches
to the challenge of securing communications.
As more military and other government users
required strong cryptography to protect
communication devices or computers, it
became apparent that traditional methods of
producing cryptographic materials were no
longer adequate. NSA increasingly turned to
certification of commercial network security
products for government use.
Admiral McConnell confronted the question
of public cryptography while dealing with the
downsizing of NSA. While the U.S. (and NSA)
wanted to foster good protection for “friendly”
entities in networked computers and cellular
telephones, they were also concerned with
keeping strong cryptography out of the wrong
hands. The proposed solution was “the Clipper
Chip,” an arrangement by which the key to
publicly available cryptography would be kept
in escrow, but would be available to the federal
government via a court-issued warrant when
there were legitimate reasons for access.
The technology developed under Admiral
McConnell’s leadership was workable, but
the Clipper Chip itself was deemed politically
unacceptable. Fearful of potential misuses, the
public and their government representatives solidly
rejected the idea. Nevertheless, the encryption
technology created for the Clipper Chip found
other applications and was adopted for certain
uses within the government.
Lieutenant General Minihan
In 1996, Admiral McConnell retired, leaving NSA in
the hands of Lieutenant General Kenneth A. Minihan,
USAF. Minihan had a long history of service in the
Intelligence Community, including prior service as a
mid-level supervisor at NSA, command of a field site,
and of the Air Force’s cryptologic component. Just
prior to assuming the directorship at NSA, Minihan
held the post of Director at the Defense Intelligence
Agency, a key NSA partner.
General Minihan assumed command during a time
in NSA’s history when the Agency was struggling
not only with its missions, but also with its identity.
The end of the Cold War left NSA’s future as an
institution unclear. Budgets were shrinking, and
rumors were rife that NSA’s key components
might become separate organizations.
One Team One Mission
Citing the risk to networked information systems,
Minihan maintained that the best response to the
problems confronting NSA was to consistently
combine and coordinate as much as possible on
both sides of the cryptologic equation in carrying
out Agency missions and objectives.
Minihan believed that by leveraging both
missions at once, NSA could be more effective.
He expressed the concept by coining the phrase
“ONE TEAM, ONE MISSION” and urged the United
States and its allies to work toward the goal of
“information dominance on the world scene.”
His efforts prompted the workforce to work
more closely together and to look to the future.
With the Agency’s two missions working in
tandem, the stage was set for NSA to have a
blended mission in the next decade with the
emerging cyber challenge.
By the mid-1990s CSS had become a true unified
system with its own unique seal and identity and
has proven to be a vital contributor to the U.S.
intelligence and defense communities.
Today both organizations are fully integrated and
continue to work together to protect the Nation.
Future Day
As part of his program for encouraging NSA
personnel to turn their thoughts and energy
toward the challenges ahead, General Minihan
proclaimed October 17, 1996, as “Future Day.”
This day involved:
• A complete worldwide stand-down of all
but the most essential activities.
• Traditional face-to-face discussion groups
convened by topic to talk about Agency
goals and how to meet new challenges.
• Agency-wide chat rooms, used probably
for the first time, with General Minihan
participating and connecting with the
workforce electronically.
Lieutenant General Minihan
Although workforce participants differed in their
evaluation of Future Day, dedicating a day to
discuss the future forced almost everyone at NSA
to recognize the inevitability of change and to
consider the directions it might take.
Public Outreach
Under General Minihan, NSA for the first
time opened its doors for the filming of a
documentary about the Agency. Minihan
and other Agency leaders recognized that
misunderstandings about the role and intent
of NSA’s activities had to be addressed in order
to secure the American people’s trust and
confidence.
Extending the Enterprise
In the 1970s and 1980s, NSA leadership grew
concerned over the centralization of functions
at Fort Meade. Partially prompted by the need
to find adequate space for its personnel and
equipment, the Agency began to look at moving
some assets away from the Fort Meade area.
In this light, in 1980 a Remote Operating Facility
(ROF) at Kunia was established on the Hawaiian
island of Oahu. Although living costs were high
86 60 Years of Defending Our Nation National Security Agency
National Security Agency 60 Years of Defending Our Nation 87