re new encryption algorithm in article c rdq v chinet chi il us schneier chinet chi il us bruce schneier writes in article raeir be access digex net steve b access digex com steve brinich writes ah but developing cryptosystems which are specificially designed to protect the government s domestic spying capabilities takes them beyond that mandate into the forbidden field of domestic wiretapping unlike the cia the nsa has no prohibition against domestic spying read bamford s the puzzle palace i did you re mistaken nsa s communications intelligence mission is strictly against foreign governments here s an excerpt from the enabling charter oct truman that should clarify this the charter was declassified in about feb when an foia request made it public mind you i don t know that they never collect anything they re not supposed to but spying on us citizens isn t in their charter b the comint mission of the national security agency nsa shall be to provide an effective unified organization and control of the communications intelligence activities of the united states conducted against foreign governments to provide for integrated operational policies and procedures pertaining thereto as used in this directive the terms communications intelligence or comint shall be construed to mean all procedures and methods used in the interception of communications other than foreign press and propaganda broadcasts and the obtaining of information from such communications by other than intended recipients but shall exclude censorship and the production and dissemination of finished intelligence they re also tasked with protecting the us s communications but i haven t seen the specific enabling memo on that i assume that s the role under which skipjack was developed nsa is not in the standard setting business though that s why this clipper stuff came from nist which i believe is tasked with coming up with standards based on their best inputs from other government agencies which would include nsa jim gillogly mersday thrimidge s r
