North Carolina State University Gets $60 Million To Help NSA Build Bigger And Better Haystacks

from the institute-of-spy-er-learning dept

Who wants to work on a collaborative data project with a badly wounded intelligence agency? I'm not seeing a lot of hands... How about if I ask it with a couple of exclamation points thrown in?!?! Still nothing...

Given what we know now, it's probably safe to assume that no one wants to sign a deal with this particular devil if the NSA's abortive recruitment drive at the University of Wisconsin is any indication. The recruiters appeared to believe they could just walk in and harvest a few souls hand out a few heavily-redacted business cards while talking up Team NSA's anti-terrorism efforts.

Instead, the recruiters found themselves on the receiving end of their own words, wielded with deadly accuracy by a handful of mouthy linguistics students. Forced to defend themselves, the recruiters delivered phrases like, "We don't tell complete lies," and "we drink heavily and sing karaoke while wearing wigs."

In what has to be one of the most unfortunate press releases ever released, another institute of higher education has just announced its partnership with the NSA. You can practically feel the aching jaws of several forced smiles that accompany this bit of "good news" from North Carolina State University.

A $60.75 million grant from the NSA is the largest research grant in NCSU’s history – three times bigger than any previous award.

The Laboratory for Analytic Sciences will be launched in a Centennial Campus building that will be renovated with money from the federal agency, but details about the facility are top secret. Those who work in the lab will be required to have security clearance from the U.S. government.

NCSU officials say the endeavor is expected to bring 100 new jobs to the Triangle during the next several years. The university, already a leader in data science, won the NSA contract through a competitive process.
There's nothing like two solid months of negativity to take the shine off a hard-won grant battle. If the race started today, one imagines the field might have a bit more breathing room. Everyone involved is quick to point out that the university won't be involved in the NSA's day-to-day privacy violations.
“As a university, we’re not going to be involved in the operational intelligence work of the National Security Agency,” [Chancellor Randy] Woodson said. “Our partnership with them is really about the science of big data and data analysis. I don’t think there’s anything more difficult right now for both government and the private sector than making sense out of the deluge of data that we’re all swimming in every day.”
Well, if there's anything the NSA needs, it's more haystack wranglers. Someone might want to point out that targeted surveillance efforts usually result in much more manageable "deluge." Of course, the NSA's really not interested in shallow pools of data. It would much rather swim in accumulated data, even inadvertently if it has to.

As for not being "involved?" That's probably true as far as data harvesting goes. But the leaks have shown us that every American has the chance to "get involved" by inadvertently lending their data to the NSA at some point or another, like say, the residents of Tallahassee, FL, whose area code (850) is also North Korea's country code.

Timing is everything and, through no fault of its own, NCSU has nothing. The original announcement was supposed to happen back in early June, but Snowden's first batch of leaks altered those plans. Presumably everyone was waiting for the whole "leaks thing" to blow over, but with time running off the clock to get the grant allotted before the end of the fiscal year, the university rushed out its belated announcement, just in time to coincide with the most damaging leak yet.

Synergy.

You know how it goes -- the morning starts out bright and full of promise but by the end of the day you're issuing statements that put you as far away as possible from the foul odor emanating from the NSA while still keeping the grant money within reach of your outstretched arm.

The NSA's statement, on the other hand, bears the devilish grin of someone who has not so much lost $60 million but gained a rare ally, albeit one that keeps pointing out that it's not involved with the unpleasantness.
In the announcement from the NSA, the agency’s director of research, Michael Wertheimer, said NCSU is the ideal location for the new lab.

“We have chosen the Research Triangle area for its vibrant academic and industry interest in large data analytics, and NC State for having the nation’s first, and preeminent, advanced degree program in data analytics,” Wertheimer’s statement said. “By immersing intelligence analysts with NC State’s diverse group of scientists, we hope to discover new and powerful ways to meet our foreign signals intelligence and information assurance missions – giving us an edge to better protect the nation.”
Well, it would be nice if the experts at NCSU could give the NSA some guidance on how to keep its "foreign signals intelligence" foreign and its "information assurance missions" a bit more focused. But this isn't what the NSA wants from NCSU. It's looking for bigger haystacks and better pitchforks and the occasional needle to justify it all.

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Filed Under: bad timing, data collection, north carolina state, nsa, nsa surveillance


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  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2013 @ 2:51am

    They just sold their souls to the devil.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Ninja (profile), 21 Aug 2013 @ 3:07am

    A much needed poll among the students of NCSU would be regarding the acceptance and their support for the NSA current absurds...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    t0r, 21 Aug 2013 @ 3:44am

    slightly offtopic, but this cartoon series about the NSA is fantastic & amusing, and deserves lots of eyeballs/recognition:

    http://video.wired.com/series/codefellas

    it's intended to be funny/joking/parody type thing, but with all the recent disclosures, isn't as farfetched as it seems - hope the techdirt community finds it amusing! :)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    out_of_the_blue, 21 Aug 2013 @ 3:44am

    As mentioned by me on FRIDAY!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Ninja (profile), 21 Aug 2013 @ 3:52am

      Re: As mentioned by me on FRIDAY!

      Congratulation blue" You posted a link before Mike! That's some achievement.

      Have a dog biscuit.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 21 Aug 2013 @ 4:45am

      Re: As mentioned by me on FRIDAY!

      Credit where credit it due: OOTB is our most trusted and ONLY news source.

      Odd thing about your comment. It seems to make the claim that the NSA is proud and unbowed by the recent leaks and this story proves it.

      That kind of ignores the fact that the ONLY reason NCSU announced this is because the grant money was at risk if it didn't. Note also that the news was dumped out on a Friday, the day entities set aside to deliver bad or unwelcome news in hopes that everyone will have forgotten by the time everyone punches in on Monday.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2013 @ 4:22am

    Security Clearances.

    If the work is covered by security clearances it make it difficult for academics to publish, ending their careers if they wish to work for a master other than NSA!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    The Real Michael, 21 Aug 2013 @ 4:31am

    That's rather sly of the NSA, bribing a state university into helping assist them in undermining our Constitution. They're not even trying to hide it anymore.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2013 @ 4:46am

    "we drink heavily and sing karaoke while wearing wigs"

    pix or it didn't happen

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Vidiot (profile), 21 Aug 2013 @ 5:14am

    An island of not-NCSU

    Hard to see what NCSU has to celebrate... they're giving a building to an outside group that will renovate it, staff it with only the people they choose to allow inside, and then operate the facility themselves, for their own non-educational, proprietary purposes. Sounds less like a triumph of endowed academia, and more like a commercial real estate deal.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2013 @ 5:25am

    With school about to start up again I expect to see student groups along with outside organizations like the ACLU organizing massive protests on campus and in the surrounding community to pressure and shame the university for their poor decision here. Time to get out the popcorn.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Sunhawk, 21 Aug 2013 @ 5:27am

    Well, I *am* in the CS department at NCSU, and I *have* been a teaching assistant for Ethics in Computing...

    Maybe I should apply to that lab...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2013 @ 9:58am

      Re:

      um, why don't you go all Snowden on their ass and spill their beans ? ? ?
      *that* is about the only 'ethical' response i see to working with spooks...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      That One Guy (profile), 21 Aug 2013 @ 10:32am

      Re:

      Sorry, but even considering an 'Ethics in Computing' class (Or Ethics in anything else) automatically disqualifies you from any NSA positions, as they find things go much smoother when people aren't standing around asking 'Are we supposed to be doing this?'

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2013 @ 6:50am

    Sad day for my alma mater. I am so disappointed.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Disgusted, 21 Aug 2013 @ 8:24am

    A pile of crap, by any other name, still greatly offends the olfactory system.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    John Fenderson (profile), 21 Aug 2013 @ 9:30am

    Dsitinction without a difference

    As a university, we’re not going to be involved in the operational intelligence work of the National Security Agency,” [Chancellor Randy] Woodson said. “Our partnership with them is really about the science of big data and data analysis.


    If you are building tools that are intended to be used in nefarious ways, you are just as guilty as the people who are using your tools.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2013 @ 9:49am

      Re: Dsitinction without a difference

      Indeed. What does he think the NSA will use this research on? This is like a getaway driver claiming he was just taking his friend for a nice afternoon drive, and he wasn't involved in that messy bank incident at all.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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