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“Kicking out the adversary” meant more than preventing cyberattacks: the NSA said its Cybersecurity Directorate would also help identify intruders already inside networks and remove them. Announced in 2019, the Directorate brought the agency’s foreign-intelligence and cyberdefense work together, initially prioritizing the defense industrial base and weapons security.
What was the NSA Cybersecurity Directorate?
The NSA announced the Cybersecurity Directorate in July 2019 as a new organization intended to unify the agency’s foreign-intelligence and cyberdefense missions. It reached initial operating capability on October 1, 2019, according to the NSA’s July 2019 FAQ and its October 2019 launch announcement.
The initial emphasis was protecting the defense industrial base and improving weapons security. The agency said it would put threat intelligence, vulnerability assessments, and cyberdefense expertise to work for that mission, while sharing information with partners and customers.
What does “kicking out the adversary” mean?
It describes the response after prevention fails or an intruder is already present: network owners need to determine whether an adversary gained access, then remove that access. NSA spokesperson Natalie Pittore summarized the dual aim to CyberScoop on October 11, 2019: “It’s about preventing but also kicking out the adversary.”
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The phrase was not a claim that the NSA itself would directly enter and clean every affected network. The Directorate’s stated approach was to combine intelligence and defensive expertise, help organizations understand threats to their systems, and work with partners. The NSA’s description connects prevention and eradication as complementary parts of cyberdefense.
How did this differ from the NSA’s previous approach?
The Directorate’s predecessor, the Information Assurance Directorate (IAD), had a stronger emphasis on prevention, according to Neal Ziring, then technical director for the new Directorate. He told CyberScoop: “The old IAD … really focused mostly on prevention … not that we didn’t do any eradicating. But prevention was the bulk of the mission work. So now we’re trying to make sure we pay attention to both angles and let them work together,”
That distinction matters: Ziring did not say the IAD never helped eradicate intruders. His point was that the new organization aimed to give prevention and response more balanced attention and make the two work together. The launch also emphasized bringing intelligence and defense functions into closer alignment and sharing information externally.
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Who were the Directorate’s partners?
In its July 2019 FAQ, the NSA named U.S. Cyber Command, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI as government partners. Its stated model also included information sharing with customers and other partners. General Paul Nakasone, then NSA director, described the organizational goal as: “What I’m trying to get to in a space like cyberspace is speed, agility, and unity of effort.”
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What does the NSA say the mission includes today?
The NSA’s current cybersecurity overview continues to describe a prevention-and-eradication mission and a focus on the defense industrial base. It lists seven functions:
- Providing warning intelligence about foreign threats to U.S. national security systems and critical infrastructure.
- Developing cryptographic products and security engineering expertise.
- Assessing threats and vulnerabilities and helping mitigate them.
- Combining intelligence and cybersecurity operations across government.
- Defending National Security Systems.
- Defending NSA networks.
- Sharing information with partners and customers.
The overview does not display a publication date, so these functions describe the agency’s live account, not a dated 2019 roster or an assurance that specific personnel or organizational details from the launch remain current.
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