The enemy of the new century holds a dramatic advantage over enemies of the past-access to a global industry moving at the speed of light. A three trillion dollar a year telecommunications industry has leveled the battlefield.
Adversaries like Bin Laden can take full advantage of this technology - cell phones, fax machines, the Internet, emails, and encryption. This global information explosion forced NSA to recognize it no longer had the technological advantage. The Agency had to prepare.
NSA is increasing its partnerships with industry and academia... expanding its research and development, and aggressively recruiting and hiring cryptologic professionals.
These changes are revolutionizing the Agency's capability to produce foreign signals intelligence and protect sensitive government communications in a digital age. These changes give warfighters and policymakers real-time insight into the adversary's mindset. These changes ensure that NSA's capabilities will continue to prevent conflict, shorten wars, and save lives.