NSA had cyber-attack authority since 1997

You wouldn't really know it from reading press accounts about cyber-warfare, but the National Security Agency has been the executive agent for precisely that capability since 1997, according to newly declassified documents. "Executive agent" is the government's term for "the entity that does the stuff." "Capability" is the government's way of saying "weapon."

In 1997, the following fact was classified as "SECRET," releasable to a few U.S. allies. "On 3 March 1997, the Secretary of Defense officially delegated to the National Security Agency the authority to develop computer network attack techniques." William Black, who held the title of "Special Assistant to the Director for Information Warfare," noted that the new authority "is sure to be a catalyst for major changes in the NSA's processes and its workforce." Actually, it was a "third dimension" to the NSA's dual mission: To make and break codes, and to steal signals.

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Marc Ambinder

Marc Ambinder is TheWeek.com's editor-at-large. He is the author, with D.B. Grady, of The Command and Deep State: Inside the Government Secrecy Industry. Marc is also a contributing editor for The Atlantic and GQ. Formerly, he served as White House correspondent for National Journal, chief political consultant for CBS News, and politics editor at The Atlantic. Marc is a 2001 graduate of Harvard. He is married to Michael Park, a corporate strategy consultant, and lives in Los Angeles.