The National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency and the NSA’s Data Acquisition Directorate held a meeting to discuss each organization’s mission and how they might increase their collaboration. 

The NSA faces a loss of expertise when baby boomers retire. The Knowledge Transfer Program used social network analysis tools to identify staffers from data-flow manager roles who are key assets in the in-house network, whose knowledge must be retained. This was an instance of "turning a methodology usually used to ... tear down our target networks, such as al Qaeda ... upon NSA itself."

The five November articles with the highest readership are listed. 

The ambassador to Portugal came to Fort Meade, where he received briefings on a variety of topics: operational security, how to read and share information from reports containing signals intelligence, and issues that the NSA is monitoring that could be relevant to his new position, such as European counterterrorism and Portugal’s relationship with African countries. 

The NSA has hired an organization to develop a diversity training curriculum and has organized a set of focus groups to help the firm tailor the trainings. 

Staffers remember Thanksgiving meals they had while deployed in Kenya, Somalia, Philippines, and Germany. 

Turkey may not be the NSA’s oldest third-party partner, the writer says. Earlier signals intelligence foreign relationships are described. 

RiskNav is a program used by program managers and risk managers at the NSA to monitor project and program risks and print risk reports. Staff training is available.

Readers requested a monthly column offering advice for staffers seeking guidance. The first column advises a busy staffer to take the time to attend training classes. 

An NSA staffer on a “Media Exploitation team” in Iraq describes recovering pornography and videos of beheadings from computers seized in raids or from detainees. “One of our ‘customers,’ the 5th Special Forces, said that porn was extremely useful in breaking down the detainees who maintained that they were devout Muslims, but had porn on their computers,” the staffer wrote.

The SIGINT Seniors conference includes signals intelligence leaders from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. At the 2005 conference, the participants committed the 12 nations to deploy a tactical communications system in Afghanistan and build on the successful partnership during the Athens Olympics Games in advance of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy and the FIFA World Cup in Germany.

In September 2004, satellite terminals for internet cafes in Iraq switched to a new communications hub in the UAE, cutting off NSA monitoring of internet in the cafes. Within 40 days, Signals Intelligence Directorate teams outfitted a Special Collection Service site in Ankara, Turkey, to intercept signals from the new hub, immediately resulting in a “successful raid in Kirkuk.”

The NSA needs signals intelligence analysts to volunteer to deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa. 

A seminar will address the impact that 3 1/2 years of the global war on terror has made on the intelligence community.

The NSA's Foreign Affairs Directorate approved exploratory talks with new NATO member country Estonia on a possible signals intelligence relationship. An Air Force information operations group “was very interested in an exchange,” and the military believes Estonian forces are monitoring signals intelligence related to nearby Russian air and ground operations. 

A seminar on strategic warning processes in the intelligence community is announced.

Members of early Cryptologic Support Teams deployed to Iraq remember difficulties and successes of the combat support missions in Balad and Mosul in 2004.

SIDtoday solicits stories from NSA staff about unusual jobs they held before coming to the agency. It also reposts the responses to that question from the prior year, including stories about puppeteering, long-haul trucking, and paper sorting.

The Hawaii Signals Intelligence Directorate (formerly known as the Kunia Regional Security Operations Center) has new leadership: Col. Mark Westergren as director and Sally Holcomb as deputy director. 

Corporate Web Solutions is the office that will design and host websites for NSA staff. 

An NSA technical director recalls her deployment, the experience of the landmark January 2005 election, and the impact of signals intelligence in securing the country so that the Iraqi people can “regain control.” She writes: “It no longer matters whether we were right or wrong to go into the country, we are there and they need and, more importantly, want our help.”

The NSA targets a “little-known, Europe-based group” known as the Anti-Imperialist Camp, whose “inflammatory anti-U.S. rhetoric” was allegedly paired with aid to militant groups like Hezbollah and FARC. Surveillance of this group “has paid numerous dividends” and resulted in demand by the U.S. government that the Italian government arrest three activists in 2004. Six years later, the activists were cleared of all charges.

The author describes being the first NSA employee integrated into the FBI unit responsible for the bureau’s data collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act at the Digital Intercept Technology Unit at Quantico. The author is included in meetings with the “data providers.” Time-sensitive information from the FISA collection is sent to the NSA in a constant flow and provides up to 40 percent of the NSA’s counterterrorism reporting.

Bangladesh appears newly important for counterterrorism efforts after a number of recent terror attacks there, as well as several accused terrorist groups using the country as a “flee haven.” The Five Eyes partners — especially the NSA and New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau — are collaborating to increase signals intelligence-gathering in Bangladesh and will hold a conference to discuss their plans. 

This 2005 post from the NSA internal newsletter SIDToday gives a personal account of the 7/7 London bombings from the head of the agency’s delegation in London: see the Intercept article How London’s 7/7 Bombings Led to “Unprecedented” Surveillance Tactics, 1 March 2018.

This four-page extract from an undated NSA presentation gives an overview of the agency’s FORNSAT operations: see the Intercept article Norway Used NSA Technology for Potentially Illegal Spying, 1 March 2018.

This 2005 letter from the internal NSA newsletter SIDToday responds to a previous article with further details about how the agency is dealing with Skype, noting that certain Special Collection Sites may have had access to Skype traffic, even at that point: see the Intercept article NSA Used Porn to “Break Down Detainees” in Iraq […]

This 2005 post from the NSA’s internal newsletter SIDToday features an interview with the deputy chief of the Middle East and North Africa product line. In light of a personnel shortage, he believes that new communications technology presents an advantage to the NSA, as the agency can spy on more intimate, firsthand communications from targets: […]

Managing the U.S. Signals Intelligence System requires a smarter allocation of resources. Three deputy directors will develop action plans, using a new wiki as their collaboration tool. 

Repost: A recently promoted manager describes the expectations, opportunities, and responsibilities at the senior executive level.