For years, Dorcas and I have used the front page of the National Security Agency (NSA)/Central Security Service (CSS) web site as the home page for the Internet Explorer. For various reasons, the agency’s symbol upon the deep blue background was somewhat an inviting sight. However, a remarkable transformation was seen when Dorcas brought up the Internet Explorer on January 15, 2009.
Screen shot of NSA.gov by author
A brighter, more colorful page and well over forty links to information now awaits those who visit the NSA/CSS web site. Visitors have immediate access to both text, images and video presentations.
A tastefully done main menu at the top offers selections that include About the NSA, Academia, Business, Careers, Information Assurance, Public Information, and NSA’s Commitment. Each reveal a drop-down menu upon mouseover. Under Public Information the drop-down menu reveals a link titled, What’s New at NSA.gov so frequent viewers can keep abreast of any new pages.
Quite noticeable near the top of the page is the Flash section which tantalizes the visitor with intriguing images that change every few seconds. Clicking on its menu to the left will reveal links to the following videos: The Director’s Message, NSA Overview, NSA History, and CyberDefense Exercise 2008. Each is very informative and inspiring. There are transcriptions for the videos for those who cannot, or prefer not to, use Flash.
Just under the Flash section are three areas colored red, white and blue, respectively titled Our Mission, Today’s NSA, and Cryptologic Heritage. Today’s NSA offers a link to numerous photos that include people, places, cryptologic machines, and exhibits. There is a link for a virtual tour in the Cryptologic Heritage section that presents an overview of the National Cryptologic Museum.
While in that section, please take time to view the NSA/CSS Cryptologic Memorial exhibit which is a replica of the black granite wall found in the NSA Headquarters building at Ft. Meade, MD, upon which are engraved the names of 153 military and civilian cryptologists who have given their lives in service to their country since World War II.
The Cryptologic Heritage section will also entice you with the Hall of Honor and National Vigilance Park.
If you need work, currently you will find the NSA is looking for computer scientists, and electrical and computer engineers. Information is available regarding life at NSA and the benefits of working for that agency.
Other options include NSA News, doing business with the NSA, Learn More about the NSA, and the NSA Goes Green.
And with this great upgrade of their site, the NSA has not forgotten to provide a link to their Kids’ Page which is currently found near the bottom left corner of the home page. I recently described the Kids’ Page in the article titled, “Six Captivating U.S. Intelligence Agency Web Sites for Children.”
Regardless of what link you choose to navigate to, you will find that the page is professionally done and usually bright. You might also discover that you will be spending considerable time viewing the agency’s web pages, for the NSA/CSS web site is not only inviting and user-friendly, but informative, inspiring, intriguing and rich in little-known history.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Really interesting article, i dont work for the national security agency what are you talking about…
Cheers,
Denus
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:19 am
Greetings denus,
This is one of the major US Intelligence agencies. They encode / encrypt high level communication on our side making an effort that no one hostile to us can decode the data.
Conversely, they monitor communications from those that would be hostile to us and attempt to decode and understand that information and send it on to the proper agency.
Quite intriguing.
The NSA/CSS is less than 1.5 hours from our home in Cambridge. We drive by it when we go to western Maryland.
God bless,
Pete
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:44 am
Very interesting. These government angencies have always been very interesting to me. I now have spent the last 30 minutes on the NSA site since reading this article. There is a lot to look at. Good stuff.
-Duke
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:55 am
Greetings Duke,
Thanks for checking out my article and reading it.
Yes, that web site is very interesting. That’s one reason why it took me a while to write the article, LOL!
As a kid, I remember the US plane being shot down over Armenia. The NSA gives info on that.
The cold war kept us on edge. Now it’s terrorists.
Anyhow, I tried to see if they give public tours. Does not look like they do!
God bless,
Pete