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Press Release | Feb. 3, 2022

NSA Releases 2021 Cybersecurity Year in Review

FORT MEADE, Md. — The National Security Agency released the 2021 NSA Cybersecurity Year in Review today to highlight how its cybersecurity mission continues to prevent and eradicate threats to the nation's most critical systems.

The Year in Review shows the breadth of the NSA's cybersecurity mission from securing key Department of Defense weapons and space systems, to collaborating with industry analysts to better protect the Defense Industrial Base, to issuing actionable cybersecurity guidance that helps network defenders protect our most sensitive systems from adversary threats.

"While many of our mission successes must remain classified, I'm proud that we can showcase how NSA Cybersecurity helps contribute to securing the nation in this report," said Rob Joyce, NSA Cybersecurity Director. "The successes really show the value NSA Cybersecurity delivers through its foreign threat intelligence insights, partnerships and expertise."

Highlights include:

  • Working with partners to respond to national-level threats, such as SolarWinds and multiple ransomware attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure
  • Standing up the NSA Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, an unclassified space where NSA Cybersecurity experts collaborate with industry and interagency partners to reduce the attack surface to the Defense Industrial Base and ensure the nation's sensitive intellectual property, military research and innovative technical economy are protected at scale
  • Discovering and disclosing vulnerabilities to industry, such as critical vulnerabilities to Microsoft Exchange
  • Releasing 23 public cybersecurity reports that help net defenders secure systems from threats and vulnerabilities, including a dozen in partnership with U.S. and allied partners
  • Working with the Department of Defense and U.S. military services to assess, prioritize and mitigate vulnerabilities in critical U.S. weapons and space systems
  • Delivering updated cryptographic devices to protect National Security Systems from potential adversary quantum computing attacks
  • Combining with the National Science Foundation to host 156 K-12 summer cybersecurity camps that educated more than 3,500 students and more than 800 educators

Click here to check out the full 2021 Year in Review, and visit our library for the cybersecurity information and technical guidance listed above.