How much does NSA read?
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 08/12/2013 03:33 PM
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Just how much is the NSA reading? According to a press release titled The National Security Agency: Missions, Authorities, Oversight and Partnerships (PDF), claim it “... touches about 1.6 per cent... “ of daily Internet traffic and “...only 0.025 per cent is actually selected for review”.
NSA identifies foreign entities (persons or organizations) that have information responsive to an identified foreign intelligence requirement. For instance, NSA works to identify individuals who may belong to a terrorist network.
NSA develops "the network" with which that person or organization’s information is shared or the command and control structure through which it flows. In other words, if NSA is tracking a specific terrorist, NSA will endeavor to determine who that person is in contact with, and who he is taking direction from.
NSA identifies how the foreign entities communicate (radio, e-mail, telephony, etc.)
NSA then identifies the telecommunications infrastructure used to transmit those communications.
NSA identifies vulnerabilities in the methods of communication used to transmit them.
NSA matches its collection to those vulnerabilities, or develops new capabilities to acquire communications of interest if needed.
“According to figures published by a major tech provider, the Internet carries 1,826 Petabytes of information per day. In its foreign intelligence mission, NSA touches about 1.6% of that. However, of the 1.6% of the data, only 0.025% is actually selected for review. The net effect is that NSA analysts look at 0.00004% of the world's traffic in conducting their mission – that's less than one part in a million.”
It is likely that the release by whistleblower Edward Snowden is the reason for this release of data.
NSA identifies foreign entities (persons or organizations) that have information responsive to an identified foreign intelligence requirement. For instance, NSA works to identify individuals who may belong to a terrorist network.
NSA develops "the network" with which that person or organization’s information is shared or the command and control structure through which it flows. In other words, if NSA is tracking a specific terrorist, NSA will endeavor to determine who that person is in contact with, and who he is taking direction from.
NSA identifies how the foreign entities communicate (radio, e-mail, telephony, etc.)
NSA then identifies the telecommunications infrastructure used to transmit those communications.
NSA identifies vulnerabilities in the methods of communication used to transmit them.
NSA matches its collection to those vulnerabilities, or develops new capabilities to acquire communications of interest if needed.
“According to figures published by a major tech provider, the Internet carries 1,826 Petabytes of information per day. In its foreign intelligence mission, NSA touches about 1.6% of that. However, of the 1.6% of the data, only 0.025% is actually selected for review. The net effect is that NSA analysts look at 0.00004% of the world's traffic in conducting their mission – that's less than one part in a million.”
It is likely that the release by whistleblower Edward Snowden is the reason for this release of data.
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