The NSA Launches Its Largest Reorganization in Nearly a Decade

According to a report by Reference News Network on September 17, the Russian newspaper "Kommersant" reported on September 15 that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) is set to launch its largest reorganization in nearly a decade. The agency's headquarters in Fort Meade will establish five new departments, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and developments in China. The elite hacking unit known as the Tailored Access Operations (TAO), which was effectively disbanded in 2016, will also be reconstituted.

According to The Washington Post, the reorganization is initiated by General Paul Nakasone, who assumed the role of NSA Director and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command in March of this year.

The reorganization plan will create five departments corresponding to different business directions, focusing on artificial intelligence, China, cybersecurity, operational support, and global intelligence. An anonymous official quoted by The Washington Post cited Nakasone's view that the new organizational structure will better address the security threats the U.S. currently faces and will face in the future.

The NSA is widely regarded as the largest and most well-funded agency within the U.S. intelligence community, responsible for large-scale signals intelligence collection, encompassing communication records and various electronic data. The agency employs over 30,000 personnel, including military and civilian staff, surpassing the total personnel of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The agency operates under a dual chain of command: it is subordinate to the U.S. Department of Defense while also belonging to the U.S. intelligence community, reporting to the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines. General Nakasone's dual role as NSA Director and Cyber Command Commander centralizes intelligence collection and offensive cyber operations under one individual.

The Washington Post also revealed that with Nakasone's appointment, the U.S. has decided to rebuild the elite hacking unit TAO.

This unit was mentioned in the leaked documents by former NSA employee Edward Snowden and is specifically tasked with conducting targeted cyber sabotage operations. Sources told The Washington Post that the reconstituted unit will fall under the newly established global intelligence department and will receive a significant dedicated budget.

After the Snowden leaks in 2013, this secret unit, which specializes in infiltrating and attacking the world's most challenging digital targets, was forced to completely adjust its operational mode: urgently changing project codenames, modifying attack tools, and restructuring its security system.

During the NSA's large-scale internal reorganization in 2016, TAO was directly disbanded, and its functions were transferred to other departments.

Details about the internal adjustments of this secret agency are scarce. It is currently unclear whether the five newly established departments will directly replace the existing departments or will manage them in a coordinated manner.

Sources also indicated that the NSA's reorganization timeline is very tight: the reorganization is expected to start in mid-October and be "fully operational" by mid-January 2027.

Reports indicate that General Nakasone plans to actively recruit technical talent from the private sector. After the 2016 agency restructuring, many technical personnel chose to leave. Between 2016 and 2018, the annual turnover rate of technical elite personnel reached 8% to 9%.

Another new initiative under the leadership of the NSA's new director is likely to be the active adoption of artificial intelligence technology. The Washington Post reported that the NSA has launched a new tool called "Ask Mary."

The NSA is actively seeking collaboration with commercial AI laboratories, even bypassing the Pentagon's restrictions to use the latest "Claude" model from the U.S. company Anthropic. This model has shown outstanding performance in completing cryptographic protocol analysis and decryption tasks.

Since taking office, Nakasone has frequently visited the White House, with AI-related topics being central to his discussions with the administration. (Translated by Zhao Zhipeng)