Jan. 3, 2025

Headline Puzzle: January 2025

The Headline Puzzle is a monthly feature that was started in 1964 by Paul Derthick, a longtime research analyst in NSA’s Operations Organization, as an interesting way to keep his mind sharp outside of his cryptanalytic work. Each Headline Puzzle contains five headlines from recent daily newspapers. Each of the five is a different monoalphabetic substitution, and all five are derived from the same mixed alphabet at different settings against itself. A complete solution includes recovering the plaintext of each HEADLINE and three key words, the SETTING, the KEY and the HAT.

Dec. 31, 2024

Statement from Gen Tim Haugh, Commander, USCYBERCOM, Director, NSA/Chief, CSS, on the Passing of Former President Jimmy Carter

Gen Tim Haugh, Commander, USCYBERCOM, Director, NSA/Chief, CSS released the following statement on the passing of Former President Jimmy Carter:

“With great sadness, we extend our deepest condolences to the family of President Jimmy Carter on his passing. He will be remembered for his tireless dedication to public service, his inspiring commitment to peace, human rights, and charity towards others.”

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Dec. 10, 2024

NSA Awards Authors of Assessment of Trustworthiness in GPT Models

The National Security Agency (NSA) Research Directorate recently selected “Decoding Trust: Comprehensive Assessment of Trustworthiness in GPT Models,” as the winner of its 12th Annual Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition.

Dec. 7, 2024

No Such Puzzle: Reindeer Games

For each #NoSuchPuzzle in December, we provide a clue to a phrase and some of the letters in the phrase. Each clue leads to an answer that contains the letters of one of Santa's reindeer. These letters may appear elsewhere as well. Find the answer to the clue. 

Dec. 5, 2024

Headline Puzzle: December 2024

The Headline Puzzle is a monthly feature that was started in 1964 by Paul Derthick, a longtime research analyst in NSA’s Operations Organization, as an interesting way to keep his mind sharp outside of his cryptanalytic work. Each Headline Puzzle contains five headlines from recent daily newspapers. Each of the five is a different monoalphabetic substitution, and all five are derived from the same mixed alphabet at different settings against itself. A complete solution includes recovering the plaintext of each HEADLINE and three key words, the SETTING, the KEY and the HAT.

Dec. 5, 2024

Capt. Grace Hopper on Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software, and People (Part Two, 1982)

We're reaching into the vault to bring you a lecture delivered to the NSA workforce in 1982 by then-Navy Captain Grace Hopper entitled, "Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software, and People." Grace Hopper was an American computer scientist and mathematician, and a pioneer of computer programing. Among her accomplishments, Hopper was the first to devise the theory of machine-independent programming languages. She ultimately reached the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, and in 2016 she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the nation's highest civilian honor. Her insights on leadership and her visionary predictions still hold weight today, more than forty years later.

Check out part two of the episode wherever you get your podcasts:

Dec. 4, 2024

U.S. Military Academy honored at White House for winning NSA’s 2024 Cyber Exercise

Feelings of pride, accomplishment, and excitement came over West Point cadets in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Nov. 15, 2024 as The Honorable Harry Coker Jr., National Cyber Director, stepped to the podium.

Dec. 3, 2024

Guidance Urges Visibility and Device Hardening against PRC-Affiliated Threat Actor

FORT MEADE, Md. – The National Security Agency (NSA) joins the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and others in releasing guidance for monitoring networks and hardening devices in response to exploitation of major global telecommunications providers by a People’s Republic of China (PRC)-affiliated threat actor.

Nov. 26, 2024

Capt. Grace Hopper on Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software, and People (Part One, 1982)

We're reaching into the vault to bring you a lecture delivered to the NSA workforce in 1982 by then-Navy Captain Grace Hopper entitled, "Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software, and People." Grace Hopper was an American computer scientist and mathematician, and a pioneer of computer programing. Among her accomplishments, Hopper was the first to devise the theory of machine-independent programming languages. She ultimately reached the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, and in 2016 she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the nation's highest civilian honor. Her insights on leadership and her visionary predictions still hold weight today, more than forty years later.

Check out part one of the episode wherever you get your podcasts:

Nov. 15, 2024

How the Need for Direct Cryptologic Military Support Helped Establish NSA’s Cryptologic Centers

As a combat support agency for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) has centers across the country to provide support to the DoD and U.S. military personnel around the world.