American Cryptology during the Cold War - The Black Vault

Chapter 6
Cryptology at Mid-decade
Ib) (1)
Ib) (3) -50 USC 403
Ib) (3) -18 USC 798
Ib) (3) -P.L. 86-36
THE EARLY ASSESSMENTS
It has become exceedingly difficult to obtain significantinformation from coV'ettoperations
inside Russia.
The security zones at the border, the general restrictions in the interior, the
thousands of security police, and the innumerable.informers among the populace.are brutally
effective in limiting infiltration, exfiltration, and usefulness ofagents. Therefore, we must more
and more depend on science and technology to assist and to complement the·. best efforts of
classical intelligence.
The KillianBoard,1955
The Eisenhower administration's intelligence focus was not on traditiOnal espionage ­
it was on technical intelligence, whence, Eisenhower knew through personal experience
during World War II, he couldobtain vast quantities of information. His concern over the
apparent breakdown in COMINT during the Korean War caused him to refocus again and
again on NSA. Reportsabout NSA's performance began to flow back to hUn almost from
the moment the Agency was created. The reports are important toclaybeca1.l.se they
indicate the direction that cryptology was to travel in subsequent years.
The Robertson Committee
The first reports on NSA were a product ofPresident Eisenhower's concern with Soviet
I-----.,fapabilities. In the summer of 1953, the National Security Council began
examining America's strategic vulnerabilities, and,with it, the intelligence system that
must provide the warning. But Canine adamantly opposed granting COMINT. clearances to
the members of the panel, and USCIB backed him. Instead, Canine established a largely
in-house examination of COMINT, chaired by Dr. H.. P. Robertson ofCaliforniaInstitute of
Technology, a member of Canine's advisory panel, the NSA Scientific Advisory Board
(NSASAB). Four of the seven members were from NSASAB, and the remaining two were
from the Office ofthe Secretary of Defense. 1
Robertson reported during the dark days after "Black Friday," whenSovi.etl
was still an unrevealed mystery. I
I
I The immediate result of this was the intercept, in 1954,
f This opened up a new world
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