Category Archives: Paul Nakasone

US lacks visibility into digital espionage at home, NSA boss says

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National Security Agency Director Gen. Paul Nakasone addressed the elephant in the room on Thursday during testimony on Capitol Hill: How could the U.S. government have missed SolarWinds and Microsoft Exchange Server hacking until after the malicious activity was already well underway? “It’s not the fact that we can’t connect the dots — we can’t see all the dots,” Nakasone said, acknowledging that the U.S. government, including the NSA, does not have a view into foreign hacking campaigns when they exploit domestic internet infrastructure. “We have a difficulty as a government understanding the totality of the actual intrusion.” The suspected Russian and Chinese hackers behind the SolarWinds supply chain attack and the hacking stemming from the Microsoft Exchange Server vulnerabilities, respectively, used U.S.-based computers and servers to launch their operations. It’s an indication to some, including White House officials, that intruders deliberately sought to bypass detection by the U.S. intelligence community. […]

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Lawmakers throw cold water on splitting Cyber Command from NSA

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Although Pentagon officials have suggested in recent days that the nation’s offensive cyber arm should split away from the National Security Agency, Cyber Command is a long way from being ready to stand on its own, according to a bipartisan group of lawmakers. The proposal, which some DOD officials have been entertaining in the last several days, would separate out the command from the Department of Defense’s foreign signals intelligence agency, which it has been co-located with for 10 years in order to help it find its footing. Both the NSA and Cyber Command are currently run by the same leader, Gen. Paul Nakasone, and some critics say the Trump administration has been interested in separating the two in order to carve out a leadership spot for a political ally at the helm of the NSA before his time in the Oval Office expires, according to The Washington Post. But […]

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NSA director is in quarantine after potential coronavirus exposure

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The director of the U.S. National Security Agency, Gen. Paul Nakasone, has entered quarantine out of an abundance of caution after a potential exposure to the coronavirus. The news was first reported by CBS News. Nakasone has tested negative for the virus, according to CNBC. It was unclear when Nakasone’s last negative coronavirus test occurred. Nakasone’s status could raise questions about how he will be able to complete his duties as the director of the Defense Department’s foreign signals intelligence agency. Nakasone also leads Cyber Command, an offensive hacking outfit, which runs cyber-operations to disrupt and deter adversaries, including Russia, in cyberspace. The NSA and Cyber Command declined to comment on Nakasone’s health status. “As has been our policy since the start of the pandemic we don’t comment on the heath status or testing of our personnel, to include leadership,” an NSA spokesperson said. “Cyber Command and NSA maintain strict safety protocols in order to achieve our […]

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NSA director ranks influence operations as a top concern

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Foreign influence operations are “the next great disruptor” in the U.S. intelligence community, the director of the National Security Agency said Wednesday. Gen. Paul Nakasone, who also serves as the head of Cyber Command, the Pentagon’s offensive cyber outfit, said he thinks influence efforts have the potential to shape the U.S. intelligence community’s operational environment for years to come. Planting misinformation and spreading disinformation are attractive ways for American adversaries to spread confusion in the U.S., in part because they can be inexpensive and they allow the opportunity to spread discord while operating below the level of armed conflict, Nakasone said. Disinformation specialists have said weaponized misinformation and baseless conspiracy theories already are having an effect on American life, in part because so many social media users spread sensational falsehoods, thinking they’re acting in good faith. “We’ve seen it now in our democratic processes,” Nakasone said during remarks at the virtual Intelligence and National Security […]

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Bolton book could cause ‘irreparable damage’ to U.S. signals intelligence, NSA Director says

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John Bolton’s tell-all on his time serving as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser could reveal classified information and damage U.S. signals intelligence collection if published, the National Security Agency Director, Gen. Paul Nakasone, said Wednesday. “At the request of the National Security Council legal adviser I have reviewed a limited portion of [Bolton]’s draft manuscript, and have identified classified information in that portion of the manuscript,” Nakasone said in a signed affidavit. “Compromise of this information could result in the permanent loss of a valuable SIGINT [signals intelligence] source and cause irreparable damage to the U.S. SIGINT system.” Nakasone’s assessment of Bolton’s book was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington alongside an emergency Department of Justice filing seeking to block the release of Bolton’s book. The Trump administration sued Bolton on Tuesday in an attempt to delay the memoir’s publication, alleging that his book contained classified information and that […]

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NSA’s Russian cyberthreat task force is now permanent

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The task force the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command created last year to thwart Russian influence and cyberattacks on the U.S. is now permanent, spokespeople from both agencies confirmed to CyberScoop. The “Russia Small Group” — whose existence NSA Director Paul Nakasone announced in July of last year, absent guidance from the White House on how to handle Russian cyberthreats — settles in as the White House, Congress and the Pentagon have taken steps to clarify how and when the military should conduct offensive operations in cyberspace. The NSA would not comment on the number of people on the task force, where it is based, or when the operation became permanent. One intelligence official told CyberScoop the group’s new permanent designation, under routine operations, likely marks a surge of incoming resources, just as in any military surge. “We intend to build on this foundation as we prepare with our interagency partners for a broader challenge in the upcoming […]

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US pushed Russian troll factory offline during US midterm elections

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The US blocked internet access to Russian trolls who, they say, were trying to spread FUD. Continue reading US pushed Russian troll factory offline during US midterm elections→

Senators ask Trump administration how badly shutdown hurt federal cybersecurity

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After former U.S. officials raised concerns that the longest government shutdown in history had weakened federal cybersecurity, lawmakers are asking the Trump administration how bad the damage is. “We are concerned that these circumstances have left our government and citizens vulnerable to cyberattacks,” five Democratic senators wrote in a letter Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Gen. Paul Nakasone, head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command. The senators – Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar, Massachusetts’ Ed Markey, New Mexico’s Tom Udall, Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto, and New Jersey’s Cory Booker – want to know how agencies are preparing to harden their networks for a future shutdown, citing past experience as a cautionary tale. During the 2013 government shutdown, the senators wrote, Chinese hackers compromised the Federal Election Commission’s computer network, crashing sensitive computer systems that disclose billions of dollars in spending each election cycle. “Shutdowns have severe […]

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PPD-20 elimination opens arguments over how U.S. should conduct offensive hacking operations

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President Donald Trump has rescinded a key policy directive that governs the approval process for cyberattacks conducted by the U.S. government, potentially opening the door to more offensive operations, an administration official familiar with the matter confirmed to CyberScoop. Presidential Policy Directive 20, which then-President Barack Obama signed in 2012, had installed an intricate inter-agency legal and policy process for green-lighting cyberattacks. Critics of the process said it unnecessarily delayed offensive operations, while advocates called it an important mechanism for accounting for all of the potential repercussions of a cyberattack. Trump’s reversal of the memorandum is in keeping with his administration’s efforts to enable military commanders to more freely conduct cyber operations against adversaries such as nation-states and terrorists. While critics warn of the pitfalls of loosening restrictions on hacking operations, the policy shift answers a call from lawmakers for the government to be more willing to go on the […]

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The NSA now officially has a new chief

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Gen. Paul Nakasone, an experienced military leader with a unique background in cyber-operations and intelligence gathering, has been approved to take over the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command. The Senate confirmed Nakasone, who currently leads Army Cyber Command, by voice vote Tuesday morning. The promotion was expected for months and faced little opposition, but like most things in the Senate, it took some time to schedule. President Donald Trump nominated Nakasone for the job on Feb. 13. The previous NSA chief, Adm. Michael Rogers, is expected to officially retire soon after having served for four years at the top of the spy agency. During his tenure, the NSA attempted a massive reorganization effort known as “NSA21,” which combined certain components of the NSA’s defensive and offensive cyber teams for the first time. The current hierarchy, approved by Congress, prescribes that the leader of NSA is also simultaneously the head of U.S. Cyber Command, a still-nascent cyberwarfare […]

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