NSDD-113 on Security of Government Communications
In a recently declassified 1983 directive (pdf), President Reagan ordered steps to improve the security of government communications.
“Mobile and fixed communications systems used by key U.S. Government officials in the Nation’s capital and surrounding areas are especially vulnerable to intercept and exploitation by foreign intelligence services,” the President wrote.
National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 113 was classified Top Secret until last year, when it was released in full. A copy was obtained by researcher Michael Ravnitzky. See “Security of Communications Systems Used by Key Government Officials,” NSDD-113, November 17, 1983.
The human cost is measured in deaths. The financial cost is measured in the $52 billion taxpayers pay annually end stage renal disease – double NASA’s budget.
Gilman Louie, Longest Serving Board Chair of the Federation of American Scientists, Named Chair Emeritus
The proposed Office will resurrect the long-closed Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), the archive of which has been maintained by FAS for decades at https://ota.fas.org/.
If Congress needs help understanding the risks and rewards of a piece of technology, they shouldn’t have to rely solely on the sparknotes from a salesman. The rub is much simpler: Congress needs nerds.