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To be fair, the NSA was never given the mission to take on that defensive role you state. Their mission includes the defense of classified systems. Defense of a

To be fair, the NSA was never given the mission to take on that defensive role you state. Their mission includes the defense of classified systems. Defense of any other systems is not their responsibility. The offensive capability you state is part of their mission and is what NSA was created for.

clouddrover 9y ago
> The NSA was never given the mission to take on that defensive role you state. It's both. James Clapper (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clapper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clapper), former director of national intelligence, says the NSA has a review process to decide whether or not to disclose vulnerabilities to software vendors. Nothing in their mission prevents them from doing it. They're choosing not to do it. Look at the slogan on the NSA's website (https://www.nsa.gov/ https://www.nsa.gov/): "Defending our Nation. Securing the Future". It's difficult to say with a straight face that they are defending the nation when they are willingly leaving domestic networks open to attack from zero days. The NSA says (https://www.nsa.gov/what-we-do/ https://www.nsa.gov/what-we-do/) national decision makers "Must be able to outmaneuver those who would do us harm in cyberspace." How are you outmaneuvering anyone when you allow systems to remain open to harm?
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  Strategically there is sometimes advantage in not letting the enemy know what you know (how you define enemy is another question, but it's reasonable to observe that we have antagonistic relationships with some countries). The alternative is a siege mentality. If you systematically throw up defences ASAP every time you discover a vulnerability, and an enemy discovers a vulnerability but does observe any defensive preparations, the enemy now knows that they have an operational advantage over you and is incentivized to deploy it for maximum effect. Obviously this is only a thumbnail sketch rather than an exhaustive exploration of strategy. But it's a subject I read and think about a good deal. Pretty much every military thinker through history has emphasized the value of surprise and the ability to set the tempo of battle.
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    I just noticed that the last sentence in the first paragraph above should read "but does not observe any defensive preparations". sorry about that.

clouddrover 9y ago

> The NSA was never given the mission to take on that defensive role you state. It's both. James Clapper (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clapper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clapper), former director of national intelligence, says the NSA has a review process to decide whether or not to disclose vulnerabilities to software vendors. Nothing in their mission prevents them from doing it. They're choosing not to do it. Look at the slogan on the NSA's website (https://www.nsa.gov/ https://www.nsa.gov/): "Defending our Nation. Securing the Future". It's difficult to say with a straight face that they are defending the nation when they are willingly leaving domestic networks open to attack from zero days. The NSA says (https://www.nsa.gov/what-we-do/ https://www.nsa.gov/what-we-do/) national decision makers "Must be able to outmaneuver those who would do us harm in cyberspace." How are you outmaneuvering anyone when you allow systems to remain open to harm?

anigbrowl 9y ago
Strategically there is sometimes advantage in not letting the enemy know what you know (how you define enemy is another question, but it's reasonable to observe that we have antagonistic relationships with some countries). The alternative is a siege mentality. If you systematically throw up defences ASAP every time you discover a vulnerability, and an enemy discovers a vulnerability but does observe any defensive preparations, the enemy now knows that they have an operational advantage over you and is incentivized to deploy it for maximum effect. Obviously this is only a thumbnail sketch rather than an exhaustive exploration of strategy. But it's a subject I read and think about a good deal. Pretty much every military thinker through history has emphasized the value of surprise and the ability to set the tempo of battle.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  I just noticed that the last sentence in the first paragraph above should read "but does not observe any defensive preparations". sorry about that.