Marc Gummerson
ISC110
Final Project
12/4/13
Signals Intelligence and the NSA
Secrets are the business of all powerful governments in the modern world. These secrets
are often incriminating or extremely sensitive to national security. One way that governments
were able to exploit the secrets of others was through the usage of signals intelligence. One of
the greatest users of signals intelligence is the National Security Agency of the United States.
The history of both are prime examples of the power and need for intelligence gathering agencies
in the modern world.
Sigint is a form of intelligence gathering that involves the interception of encrypted and
non-encrypted communications and looking for any useful information or patterns (Aid &
Wiebes, 2001). It has often been a misunderstood or underappreciated field in the intelligence
community. Many nations used it during the Second World War, especially Great Britain and
the United States. Back then its main use was code breaking; the Germans used highly technical
cipher machines to encode all of their essential communications. Both American and British
code breakers worked tirelessly to crack the German codes. This job was immensely important,
although many within the intelligence community would argue otherwise. Many of the field
operatives tended to have disdain for those who dealt with Sigint. This was not without reason;
field operatives lives were on the line and any bad piece of intel could mean great danger for
those in the field. That and there have been major mistakes when it came to signals intelligence
in the past. One of these mistakes occurred in December of 1941.
It has been a major historical debate of whether or not the attack on Pearl Harbor could
have been prevented via signals intelligence (Villa & Wilford, 2006). Whether or not the
information could have been relayed in time to strengthen the defenses around Pearl is not the
issue. The Navy’s code breakers had broken several of the Japanese encrypted signals by 1941,
but it is debated on whether any of these codes contained warning of the attack. If they did
contain the knowledge needed to stop the attack, then there is clearly fault within the government
for not acting on the knowledge. But, if they the warnings were contained within the other
unbroken signals, then the fault lies with the code breakers. Either way, code breaking would
have to be necessary to win the war. The need for Sigint grew exponentially after World War 2
had ended, and the Cold War had begun.
When the world’s two super powers decided to play an almost 50 year long spy game; the
ability to intercept your enemy’s information is an essential tool. With the new war also came
new challenges facing intelligence professionals. This would include probably the biggest
challenge; the threat of nuclear annihilation (Alvarez, 2000). The world came within a heartbeat
of Armageddon when the Soviet Union decided to set up nuclear missiles 90 miles from the
United States. The island-nation of Cuba was the perfect satellite that the U.S.S.R. needed to get
the upper hand in the war of nuclear deterrence1. This is where the United States’ Sigint
programs shined. After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, the Kennedy administration knew that
1
The war of deterrence was fought by stockpiling nuclear weapons, in an attempt to force your enemy to submit
under threat of annihilation.
without the proper intelligence they could not remove Castro. Although the invasion tactic2 had
worked in Guatemala in 1954 (Cullather, 1999), it had failed miserably in Cuba. This kicked the
National Security Agency into high gear. Through their signals intelligence, they kept close tabs
on the Cubans and any communications with the Soviet Union. In 1960, the NSA intercepted
shipping manifests from the Soviets that detailed a mysterious cargo that was bound for Cuba. It
was under the name of Yastrebov, who was a Russian trade official who had recently visited
Havana and dealt personally with the Castro government. Several other cargo vessels filled with
armaments were also en route to Cuba from Russia. And in late 1960, they learned that Spanish
speaking pilots were being trained to fly by Soviet pilots in Czechoslovakia. In 1962, via
ELINT the NSA had learned that Cuba had a new “Scan Old” radar system of Soviet design that
was commonly used on their MIG fighter jets. This was more proof that the Soviets were
becoming fully involved in Cuba. The NSA and their Sigint programs were invaluable to the
U.S. government during the Cold War. The NSA has larger and more controversial role in the
modern day.
In the post 9/11 world, the desire for security from radicals and terrorists is at the
forefront of the minds of all in the intelligence community. Terrorism has spread rampant across
the globe in the wake of 2001’s terrible day. Because of this, the federal government had
increased the budget of the NSA every year since 2001 (Aid, 2006). They have proven
themselves invaluable in the war on terror due to their role in government. The need to track
terrorist activities in the age of the internet is an important one. The Patriot Act gave much more
power to the federal government to invade the privacy of its citizens. With this power, the
2
Operation PBSUCCESS was the CIA lead invasion of Guatemala by paramilitary fighters in the attempt to
overthrow the Arbenz government. It was a success because the Guatemalan Military refused to fight against the
invaders, which led to the toppling of the Arbenz presidency. This tactic was used with little to no change in the
Bay of Pigs invasion.
government went on for years collecting the personal data on every American citizen and others
all across the globe. This may be considered an Orwellian style misstep by the government, but
that is not the point of this discussion. The fact is that to perform their job to the best of their
ability, they needed to bend the rules. It may be too early to call the war on terror over, but many
victories have been won thanks to the NSA and signals intelligence.
The NSA has served this nation since the beginning of the Cold War, and signals
intelligence has been in use since before that. In the modern day they represent the reach and
power of the American government. They have the ability to keep this nation at the top of the
food chain, but can also destroy everything America was built on. Only time will tell if selling
our souls for a little bit of security was a good idea. The world has had its fair share of troubles
and tribulations. The world we live in today would terrify our ancestors; it certainly terrifies us.
Time is the judge of all actions, and truth and justice prevail in time. Actions made in good faith
today might be looked at as tyrannical in a century. We as humans must be careful who we
follow; they could be leading us towards a canyon.
Works Cited
Aid, M. M. (2006). Prometheus embattled: A post-9/11 report card on the National Security Agency.
Intelligence & National Security , 21 (6), 980-998.
Aid, M. M., & Wiebes, C. (2001). Introduction: The Importance of Signals intelligence in the Cold War.
Intelligence & National Security , 16 (1), 26.
Alvarez, D. (2000). American Signals Intelligence and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Intelligence & National
Security , 15 (1), 8.
Cullather, N. (1999). Secret History: The CIA's Classified Account of Its Operations in Guatemala, 19521954. Stanford University Press.
Villa, B., & Wilford, T. (2006). Signals intelligence and Pearl Harbor: The state of the question.
Intelligence & National Security , 21 (4), 37.