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SIDtoday: FISA: Teaming with the FBI in the Global War on Terrorism

Nov. 30 2017 — 3:09p.m.

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DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL (U) FISA: Teaming with the FBI in the Global War on Terrorism FROM: Special Source Operations (S332) Run Date: 08/17/2005 (TS//SI) Did you know that 40% of all NSA Counterterrorism (CT) reporting is derived from Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) collection? Metadata from FISA collection is forwarded to TRAFFICTHIEF , which is a development effort supporting the CT mission that provides cross-access messaging and tip-off service to analysts and collection systems across the NSA. (U) The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act governs the conduct of certain electronic surveillance activities within the United States to collect foreign intelligence information. For . more details, see the FISA FAQ: (TS//SI) NSA gets most of its CT-related FISA collection from the FBI. The FBI collects, formats, and disseminates international terrorism-related FISA intercept to NSA, CIA, and internally to FBI agents and analysts. The Digital Intercept Technology Unit (DITU) is the FBI unit responsible for all FISA data collections. DITU is located at the FBI's Engineering Research Facility on the grounds of the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. (TS//SI) In September 2004, I started working full-time in the DITU. This is the first time that a NSA employee has been integrated into the DITU. My job was to build upon the existing relationship between NSA's Special Source Operations (SSO/S332) Office and the FBI while also addressing some of the FISA collection issues unique to NSA. While NSA, CIA, and FBI all receive copies of the raw FISA collection, each agency uses their own reviewers and has their own priorities. For example, TRAFFICTHIEF tipping requires that metadata be delivered to NSA as quickly as possible while FBI analysts generally don't consider the metadata nearly as timesensitive. (S) While it has been challenging dealing with the constant flow of FISA data, the most difficult part of my job is balancing the requirements of NSA and the rest of the Intelligence Community with the capabilities and limitations of the providers. The FBI meets periodically with data providers, which includes me as the NSA/SSO representative. Access to the providers has allowed me to discuss new collection capabilities and tailor the format of the data according to NSA requirements. This is the first time that the NSA FISA team has had direct access to the providers, which has proven to be extremely useful to NSA. (S) Although the FBI culture is vastly different from NSA's, adapting wasn't difficult. The agents and engineers at FBI were supportive and welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with NSA on a variety of different issues. The FISA program is truly a collaborative effort by the FBI, NSA and CIA. Analysts, engineers, and managers from the three agencies meet monthly to discuss new opportunities and capabilities. This position offers almost daily contact with NSA CT, and the opportunity to work closely with CIA's Information Operations Center and the Counterterrorism Center's Cyber Division. (S) I am currently in the Resident Signals Engineering Program and will rotate to a new position in September 2005. SSO recently created a full-time position in the DITU. This position will allow an engineer or computer scientist to work in a technically challenging environment that offers the opportunity to have visibility across the Intelligence Community. This tour is considered a local PCS. The selectee could be eligible for a relocation allowance and a permanent step increase. See the following link for more details: . Interested individuals should contact SSO Technical Director, or me , for more information about this exciting position.

(U) The FBI Academy facility in Quantico, Virginia "(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)." DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108

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