I wouldn't say they're a Civilian organization, the NSA directly falls under the department of defense. I would say their mandate and mission is more of a passi

I wouldn't say they're a Civilian organization, the NSA directly falls under the department of defense. I would say their mandate and mission is more of a passive intel (clandestine) style operation vs more overt military action though. As for "cyber attacks", it's nothing new, it's only recently though, the past few years, that mainstream media is becoming more aware of these activities. The D.o.D. has been deploying warfighters with network exploitation skills early into the Operation Iraqi freedom, and only grown since then. There is definitely two sides of the digital battle field though. There's the sit and observe method (the NSA) and the smash and grab method (the Military components).