NSA News & Highlights

Oct. 5, 2023

NSA and CISA Advise on Top Ten Cybersecurity Misconfigurations

The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are releasing a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) highlighting the top ten most common cybersecurity misconfigurations found in large organizations’ networks. The CSA details tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) that cyber actors could use to compromise these networks, as well as mitigations to defend against this threat.

Oct. 4, 2023

NSA and ESF Partners Release Report on MFA and SSO Challenges

The National Security Agency (NSA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and industry partners have released a cybersecurity technical report (CTR), “Developer and Vendor Challenges to Identity and Access Management,” to provide developers and vendors of multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO) technologies with actionable recommendations to address key challenges in their products.

Sept. 28, 2023

NSA Launches 10th Annual Codebreaker Challenge for 2023

The National Security Agency (NSA) is launching its annual Codebreaker Challenge, offering students from U.S.-based academic institutions the opportunity to compete against other schools to complete mission-oriented scenarios while developing their reverse engineering skills.

Sept. 28, 2023

NSA Releases Guidance on Acceptance Testing for Supply Chain Risk Management

The National Security Agency (NSA) has released the Cybersecurity Information Sheet (CSI) “Procurement and Acceptance Testing Guide for Servers, Laptops, and Desktop Computers” encouraging U.S. Government departments and agencies operating National Security Systems (NSS) to implement a robust supply chain risk management strategy.

Sept. 27, 2023

U.S. and Japanese Agencies Issue Advisory about China Linked Actors Hiding in Router Firmware

The National Security Agency (NSA), U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Japan National Police Agency (NPA), and Japan National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC) are releasing the joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) “People’s Republic of China-Linked Cyber Actors Hide in Router Firmware” about the activities of BlackTech cyber actors.

Sept. 26, 2023

Striving for Excellence: Silvino’s Path to an NSA Career

This National Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re proud to bring you the “Mucho Gusto!” or “Nice to meet you!” series of weekly interviews featuring members of NSA’s Hispanic and Latino (HLAT) Employee Resource Group (ERG). Our interviewees embrace what we share in common and celebrate what makes us unique, in keeping with the year’s theme, Todos Somos. Somos Uno: We are all. We are One. This week, we’d like to introduce you to ERG member Silvino Gonzalez.

Sept. 26, 2023

President Obama’s NSA-Modified Cell Phones on Display at the National Cryptologic Museum

When an NSA employee approached National Cryptologic Museum (NCM) Director Vince Houghton asking if he wanted “the Obama phones,” he didn’t hesitate to acquire the cryptologic gems for display at the museum.

Sept. 21, 2023

GEN Nakasone Offers Insight into Future of Cybersecurity and SIGINT

GEN Paul M. Nakasone, Commander of U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), Director of NSA, and Chief of the Central Security Service (CSS), offered insight into what the future of cybersecurity and signals intelligence may look like during a conference in Washington earlier this month.

Sept. 20, 2023

From Puerto Rican Family Values to NSA Leadership Principles: Dennis Velez’s Story

This National Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re proud to bring you the “Mucho Gusto!” or “Nice to meet you!” series of weekly interviews featuring members of NSA’s Hispanic and Latino (HLAT) Employee Resource Group (ERG). Our interviewees embrace what we share in common and celebrate what makes us unique, in keeping with the year’s theme, Todos Somos. Somos Uno: We are all. We are One. This week, we’d like to introduce you to ERG member Dennis Velez.

Sept. 12, 2023

NSA, U.S. Federal Agencies Advise on Deepfake Threats

The National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. federal agency partners have issued new advice on a synthetic media threat known as deepfakes. This emerging threat could present a cybersecurity challenge for National Security Systems (NSS), the Department of Defense (DoD), and DIB organizations.