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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Report: Classified U.S. Intelligence 'Black Budget' Revealed

    Report: Classified U.S. Intelligence 'Black Budget' Revealed

    Aug. 29, 2013
    By LEE FERRAN

    Today the Post published several stories and statistics based on the U.S. intelligence agencies' 2013 Congressional Budget Justification, a classified document that breaks down how much money goes to which agency and, to a certain extent, what those agencies do with the funds. The newspaper reported Snowden was the source of the document. Prior to the leak, only the total budget was public knowledge.

    Though the newspaper published graphs and pie charts tracking the spending of each of the intelligence community's 16 agencies, it said withheld "some information after consultation with U.S. officials who expressed concerns about the risk to intelligence sources and methods."

    READ: U.S. Spy Network's Successes, Failures and Objectives Detailed in 'Black
    Budget' Summary (WaPo)


    According to the Post, the budget document reveals that the CIA receives the most funding of any intelligence agency with a proposed $14.7 billion for 2013 -- $11.5 billion on data collection expenses, $1.8 billion on management, facilities and support, $1.1 billion on data analysis and $387.3 million on data processing and exploitation.

    Next up is the National Security Agency, for whom Snowden worked as a contractor, which spends almost as much on management, facilities and support -- $5.2 billion -- as it does on collecting, processing and analyzing data -- $5.6 billion.
    Together the documents reportedly reveal NSA and CIA have launched aggressive "offensive cyber operations" to steal information from foreign computer networks or disrupt enemy systems.

    But of all the broad missions the intelligence community undertakes, the one that is the most costly -- more than counter-terrorism or combating weapons proliferation -- is that of providing strategic intelligence and warning for major world events including a region or state's "economic instability, state failure, societal unrest and emergence of regional powers."

    Another highlight from the documents, according to the Post, is that the U.S. intelligence community considers Israel a "priority target" along with China, Russia, Iran and Cuba.

    The documents also filled in some details about the May 2011 Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The Post reported the raid was assisted by a "fleet of satellites" which collected signals intelligence over Pakistan as the mission was ongoing. The documents also say the U.S. got a DNA confirmation that the man they had killed was bin Laden just eight hours after the raid concluded.

    Snowden, the source behind the most massive intelligence leak in U.S. history, is in Russia three months after the 30-year-old fled Hawaii for Hong Kong with a trove of secrets he allegedly stole from the NSA and turned over to several journalists including one from The Washington Post.

    Ever since there has been a steady stream of reporting on activities the U.S. government would prefer to keep secret, including details of its vast foreign and domestic surveillance programs, the role that major telecommunications companies play in the programs, the CIA's penchant for spying on government officials from foreign nations and, most recently, just how much this is all costing American taxpayers.

    Snowden has been hailed by a hero my some and a traitor by others, and has been charged in the U.S. with espionage-related crimes.

    After Snowden left Hong Kong for Russia, the U.S. pressured Russian leaders to hand him over, but since the two nations have no extradition treaty and since, in the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Snowden had not committed any crimes there, he was allowed to stay.

    In response to The Washington Post's report, James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, which overseas America's intelligence community, told the Post, "Our budgets are classified as they could provide insight for foreign intelligence services to discern our top national priorities, capabilities and sources and methods that allow us to obtain information to counter threats."

    READ: Clapper's Full Statement (WaPo)

    http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/report-classified-us-intelligence-black-budget-revealed/story?id=20112040&singlePage=true
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  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    $52.6 billion
    The Black Budget


    Covert action. Surveillance. Counterintelligence. The U.S. “black budget” spans over a dozen agencies that make up the National Intelligence Program.
    Explore the top secret funding
    Funding the intelligence program

    The CIA, NSA and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) receive more than 68 percent of the black budget. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Program’s (NGP) budget has grown over 100 percent since 2004.

    Central Intelligence Agency$14.7 billionNational Security Agency$10.8 billionNational Reconnaissance Office$10.3 billionNational Geospatial-Intelligence ProgramGeneral Defense Intelligence ProgramJustice DepartmentOffice of the Director of National IntelligenceSpecialized Reconnaissance ProgramsDepartment of Defense Foreign Counter-Intelligence ProgramDepartment of Homeland SecurityDepartment of EnergyState DepartmentDepartment of the Treasury

    The top five agencies, by spending

    Central Intelligence Agency

    Collect, analyze, evaluate, disseminate foreign intelligence and conduct covert operations.
    Agency fiscal year budget
    since 2004, not inflation-
    adjusted



    +56%
    Approximate percentage
    growth from 2004 to 2013


    National Security Agency

    Protect the government’s information systems and intercept foreign signals intelligence information.


    +53%


    National Reconnaissance Office

    Design, build, and operate the nation’s signals and imagery reconnaissance satellites.


    +12%

    National Geospatial-Intelligence Program

    Generate and provide imagery and map-based intelligence, which is used for national security, U.S. military operations, navigation and humanitarian aid efforts.


    +108%

    General Defense Intelligence Program

    Provide assessments of foreign military intentions and capabilities to policymakers and military commanders. Conduct human and technical intelligence collection, document and media management.

    +3%




    Four main spending categories

    Top secret spending can be divided into four main categories: data collection, data analysis, management, facilities and support and data processing and exploitation. The CIA and NRO are heavy on data collection while the NSA and NGP focus on data processing and exploitation as well as auxiliary functions like management, facilities and support.

    Data collection expensesciaData analysisManagement, facilities and supportnsaData processing and exploitationnrongpgdipdojodnisrpdod_fcipdhsenergys tatetreasury

    Funding five mission objectives


    $20.1 billion


    Warning U.S. leaders about critical events

    Warn policymakers, military and civilian authorities of threats, such as economic instability, state failure, societal unrest and emergence of regional powers.


    $17.2


    Combating terrorism

    Monitor and disrupt violent extremists and suspected terrorist groups that plot to inflict harm to the U.S., its interests and allies.


    $6.7


    Stopping spread of illicit weapons

    Prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.


    $4.3


    Conducting cyber operations

    Prevent cyber intrusions and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.


    $3.8


    Defending against foreign espionage

    Detect attempts by adversaries to penetrate U.S. government.


    Thirty-two types of expenses

    Each agency has a unique breakdown of expenses that reflect the priorities of its mission. There is no specific entry for the CIA’s fleet of armed drones in the budget summary, but a broad line item hints at the dimensions of the agency’s expanded paramilitary role, providing more than $2.5 billion for “covert action programs” that would include drone operations in Pakistan and Yemen, payments to militias in Afghanistan and Africa, and attempts to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program.
    Expenses with more detail

    AnalysisAnalysis enablingComputer network operationsCounterintelligenceCovert actionCryptanalysis and exploitation servicesEnterprise IT systemsEnterprise managementFacilities and logisticsGeospatial intelligence (electro-optical)Geospatial intelligence (radar)Geospatial intelligence dataGeospatial intelligence/signals intelligenceHuman intelligence enablingHuman intelligence operationsHuman intelligence technical toolsLaunchMeasurement and signature intelligenceMid point RF accessMission ground stationsMission management, taskingMission processing and exploitationOpen sourceResearch and technologyReserve for contingenciesSensitive technical collectionSignals intelligence (high orbit)Signals intelligence (low orbit)Signals intelligence stationsSpace communicationsSpecial source accessTechnical operations

    Covert action ciaFacilities and logistics nsaGeospatial intelligence (electro-optical) nroMission processing and exploitation ngpAnalysis gdipHuman intelligence operations dojEnterprise management odniSpecial source access srpCounterintelligence dod_fcipAnalysis dhsAnalysis energyAnalysis stateAnalysis treasury

    107,035 employees in the intelligence community



    83,675
    Full-time equivalent (FTE) civilian employees


    CIA employs the most civilian FTEs: 21,459

    equals 100 employees


    23,400
    Military positions


    NSA employs 64 percent of all military personnel in the program: 14,950



    21,800
    Full-time contractors


    The number refers to contractors who occupy full-time positions in core functions for U.S. intelligence agencies. The category generally does not include employees of companies that have been hired by the agencies for a service or project.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/national/black-budget/
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  3. #3
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Dispute over report about secret NSA budget

    STEPHEN BRAU, Associated Press
    By STEPHEN BRAUN, Associated Press

    Updated 8:13 pm, Thursday, August 29, 2013

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Security Agency on Thursday disputed a published report that secret intelligence budget files provided by agency leaker Edward Snowden show that the surveillance agency warned in 2012 that it planned to investigate up to 4,000 cases of possible internal security breaches.

    The Washington Post, citing documents it said were provided by Snowden, said the NSA's concerns about insider threats were aimed at "anomalous behavior" of agency employees with access to top secret data. The account cited NSA concerns about "trusted insiders who seek to exploit their authorized access to sensitive information to harm U.S. interests."

    The NSA concerns were outlined in top-secret documents provided to the Senate and House intelligence committees in February 2012, well before Snowden emerged this summer as the sole source of massive new disclosures about the agency's surveillance operations. The Post released only 17 pages of the entire 178-page budget document, along with additional charts and graphs, citing conversations with Obama administration officials who voiced alarms about disclosures that could compromise intelligence sources and methods.

    An NSA spokesman disputed the Post's description of the agency's planned investigation of 4,000 possible security breaches, saying the effort actually amounted to a broad investigation of personnel to lessen the possibility of security risks.

    "NSA planned to initiate 4,000 reinvestigations on civilian employees to reduce the potential of an insider compromise of sensitive information and missions," agency spokesman Vanee M. Vines said late Thursday. "Periodic reinvestigations are conducted as one due-diligence component of our multifaceted insider threat program."

    Vines said such reinvestigations are required under a 2008 federal directive governing high-security clearances for intelligence workers.

    As of Thursday night, the Post had not amended its reporting.

    It was not clear from the Post's reporting how many of the 4,000 cases ultimately were investigated or how many posed serious breaches of security. Steven Aftergood, head of a project on government secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, questioned whether many of the reported 4,000 cases were credible.

    Referring to previous reports that the NSA's classified work force totals nearly 40,000, Aftergood said, "It would be hard to believe that one in every 10 NSA employees is a possible threat." He suggested that many cases might be caused by internal warnings arising from minor internal protocol errors or mistakenly accessed documents.

    But aggressive high-profile Justice Department prosecutions in recent years of several former NSA staffers have shown the agency taking a toughened stance in cracking down on possible leaks. "In any case, a number that large is striking," Aftergood said.

    The latest revelations also disclosed limited details about the highly classified 2013 intelligence "black budget," which previously only provided a topline of nearly $53 billion. The $52.6 billion intelligence budget described by the Post discloses that the NSA's portion was $10.5 billion in 2013 — outstripped only by the CIA's $14.7 billion.

    Aftergood said the CIA's budget growth from $3 billion in the 1990s to nearly $15 billion likely reflects its post-9/11 push into drone warfare and paramilitary operations overseas.

    The Post's story also said the NSA and CIA were engaged deeply in offensive cyber operations and had conducted counterintelligence operations against the governments of Israel and Pakistan as well as traditional targets such as Iran, Russia, China and Cuba. The Post also reported that the NSA considers North Korea the hardest intelligence target to crack and said U.S. officials know almost nothing about the plans of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

    http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Dispute-over-report-about-secret-NSA-budget-4771945.php
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