NSA Chases Clouds
July 27, 2009
I was in New York City when Information Week published “NSA Using Cloud Model for Intelligence Sharing” by J. Nicholas Hoover. Public information about the NSA from the NSA is like a Twinkie. Looks good, but I am not sure of the calorie content. The notion of intelligence agencies using cloud services is one that has been around since the days of timesharing. There is too much data pushed to analysts, so technologies that allow the work to be distributed are essential.
For me the most interesting factoids from the story were:
- The fact that the author appears to have spoken to people familiar with the NSA is interesting. What’s with the public relations push? That’s a question of interest to me. Maybe in the new administration other intelligence outfits are getting more traction, and the NSA wants its four wheel drive to bite into the hillside. Don’t know. The context of the story was happily omitted by Information Week.
- This statement gave me pause: “The NSA effort is part of Intelligence Community Directive 501, an effort to overhaul intelligence sharing proposed under the Bush administration. Current director of national intelligence Dennis Blair has promised that intelligence sharing will remain a priority.” What’s clear is that a Bush directive is now getting attention. Quite a quick start in my view. The issue, however, is silos.
In short, the write up raised more questions than it answered.
Stephen Arnold, July 27, 2009
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