The US National Security Agency was doing many changes in its operations and computer networks to prevent the emergence of another Edward Snowden, including potential disciplinary action, it has been confirmed by one of the NSA official.
The former NSA contractor Snowden's disclosures have been "cataclysmic" for the eavesdropping agency, Richard Ledgett who leads a task force responding to the leaks, said in a rare interview at NSA's heavily guarded Fort Meade headquarters.
The NSA's mission of tracking terrorist plots and other threats, and said its recruiting of young codebreakers, linguists and computer geeks has not been affected by the Snowden affair even as internal morale has been.
The NSA is taking 41 specific technical measures to control data by tagging and tracking it, to supervise agency networks with controls on activity, and to increase oversight of individuals.
According to Reuters White House said it had decided to maintain the practice of having a single individual head both the NSA and US Cyber Command, which conducts cyberwarfare - an outcome the NSA leadership favored.
Separately, news reports late Thursday said an outside review panel appointed by the White House has recommended changes in a program disclosed by Snowden that collects basic data on Americans' phone calls - known as metadata.
The panel reportedly said the data should be held by an organisation other than the NSA and stricter rules should be enforced for searching the databanks.
Ledgett declined to discuss the panel's specific recommendations. But he seemed to acknowledge that tighter guidelines for NSA eavesdropping were in the offing, saying that what is technologically possible "has gotten ahead of policy."
Snowden, who is living under asylum in Russia, disclosed a vast US eavesdropping apparatus that includes the phone metadata program; NSA querying of Internet communications via major companies such as Google and Facebook; and widespread tapping of international communication networks.
Ledgett made no apologies for what many see as overly aggressive NSA monitoring. He noted that the US government's intelligence taskings to the agency run to 36,000 pages, and said its activities take place within a "box" of US laws and policies.
Ledgett said that when Snowden was downloading the documents, NSA was ahead of other intelligence agencies in installing "insider threat" software that President Barack Obama ordered in the wake of an earlier leak scandal involving the group WikiLeaks. But installation of the software, which might have stopped Snowden, was not complete.
No one at the NSA has yet lost their job over the Snowden crisis, including at the Hawaii site where he worked. Ledgett said three people are under review for potential disciplinary action, but declined further comment.
The NSA is trying to be more open about what it does so the public can have more confidence in the agency's mission.
Author Venkatesh Yalagandula Follow us Google + and Facebook and Twitter
The former NSA contractor Snowden's disclosures have been "cataclysmic" for the eavesdropping agency, Richard Ledgett who leads a task force responding to the leaks, said in a rare interview at NSA's heavily guarded Fort Meade headquarters.
The NSA's mission of tracking terrorist plots and other threats, and said its recruiting of young codebreakers, linguists and computer geeks has not been affected by the Snowden affair even as internal morale has been.
The NSA is taking 41 specific technical measures to control data by tagging and tracking it, to supervise agency networks with controls on activity, and to increase oversight of individuals.
According to Reuters White House said it had decided to maintain the practice of having a single individual head both the NSA and US Cyber Command, which conducts cyberwarfare - an outcome the NSA leadership favored.
Separately, news reports late Thursday said an outside review panel appointed by the White House has recommended changes in a program disclosed by Snowden that collects basic data on Americans' phone calls - known as metadata.
The panel reportedly said the data should be held by an organisation other than the NSA and stricter rules should be enforced for searching the databanks.
Ledgett declined to discuss the panel's specific recommendations. But he seemed to acknowledge that tighter guidelines for NSA eavesdropping were in the offing, saying that what is technologically possible "has gotten ahead of policy."
Snowden, who is living under asylum in Russia, disclosed a vast US eavesdropping apparatus that includes the phone metadata program; NSA querying of Internet communications via major companies such as Google and Facebook; and widespread tapping of international communication networks.
Ledgett made no apologies for what many see as overly aggressive NSA monitoring. He noted that the US government's intelligence taskings to the agency run to 36,000 pages, and said its activities take place within a "box" of US laws and policies.
Ledgett said that when Snowden was downloading the documents, NSA was ahead of other intelligence agencies in installing "insider threat" software that President Barack Obama ordered in the wake of an earlier leak scandal involving the group WikiLeaks. But installation of the software, which might have stopped Snowden, was not complete.
No one at the NSA has yet lost their job over the Snowden crisis, including at the Hawaii site where he worked. Ledgett said three people are under review for potential disciplinary action, but declined further comment.
The NSA is trying to be more open about what it does so the public can have more confidence in the agency's mission.
Author Venkatesh Yalagandula Follow us Google + and Facebook and Twitter
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