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Firstly, if it is illegal to tell the CISO about the NSL, it may also be illegal to tell some details to an attorney. At least, by going to an attorney, you're

Firstly, if it is illegal to tell the CISO about the NSL, it may also be illegal to tell some details to an attorney. At least, by going to an attorney, you're already taking some legal risk, in addition to incurring the extralegal wrath of the FBI. Secondly, the FBI can serve an NSL to the CEO, a separate one to the CISO, and so on down the chain to the tech people whose job would be to fulfill the order. They can choose to serve one or some or all of these orders, and they can order some served people to cooperate and others to keep silent or lie to one another. It's not feasible to expect all of these people, some of whom are not officers of the company, to consult lawyers.

geocar 10y ago
The FBI has some good material on this subject[1] and specifically permits you to disclose the NSL to your attorney so that you can comply with it. Something important to understand is that non-disclosure is not an automatic feature of the NSL, but that disclosure binds the parties to the terms in the NSL. [1]: https://vault.fbi.gov/National%20Security%20Letters%20%28NSL%29/National%20Security%20Letters%20%28NSL%29%20Part%201%20of%201/view https://vault.fbi.gov/National%20Security%20Letters%20%28NSL... > Secondly, the FBI can serve an NSL to the CEO, a separate one to the CISO, and so on down the chain to the tech people whose job would be to fulfill the order Yes, they can, however that's not what happens. The general council may advise the CEO to disclose certain requirements or aspects of the NSL to the CISO or to other parties for the purposes of complying with the NSL. They will almost certainly not recommend disclosing or distributing the NSL "down the chain to the tech people".
- danarmak 10y ago
  > They will almost certainly not recommend disclosing or distributing the NSL "down the chain to the tech people". I meant they might target the tech people directly from the start - or someone who isn't a C-level executive, anyway - if they think the CxOs would go to a lawyer and the lower level people would just comply.
  - geocar 10y ago
    No. They will deliver the letter to the secretary, general council or a named director. They will not send it to "the tech people" directly.

geocar 10y ago

The FBI has some good material on this subject[1] and specifically permits you to disclose the NSL to your attorney so that you can comply with it. Something important to understand is that non-disclosure is not an automatic feature of the NSL, but that disclosure binds the parties to the terms in the NSL. [1]: https://vault.fbi.gov/National%20Security%20Letters%20%28NSL%29/National%20Security%20Letters%20%28NSL%29%20Part%201%20of%201/view https://vault.fbi.gov/National%20Security%20Letters%20%28NSL... > Secondly, the FBI can serve an NSL to the CEO, a separate one to the CISO, and so on down the chain to the tech people whose job would be to fulfill the order Yes, they can, however that's not what happens. The general council may advise the CEO to disclose certain requirements or aspects of the NSL to the CISO or to other parties for the purposes of complying with the NSL. They will almost certainly not recommend disclosing or distributing the NSL "down the chain to the tech people".

danarmak 10y ago
> They will almost certainly not recommend disclosing or distributing the NSL "down the chain to the tech people". I meant they might target the tech people directly from the start - or someone who isn't a C-level executive, anyway - if they think the CxOs would go to a lawyer and the lower level people would just comply.
- geocar 10y ago
  No. They will deliver the letter to the secretary, general council or a named director. They will not send it to "the tech people" directly.