Cyber Security
The cyber threat is simultaneously a national & homeland security threat and a counterintelligence problem. State and non-state actors use digital technologies to achieve economic and military advantage, foment instability, increase control over content in cyberspace and achieve other strategic goals — often faster than our ability to understand the security implications and neutralize the threat.
NCSC works with the U.S. Government cyber community and the IC, to provide the CI and security perspective on foreign intelligence and other threat actors’ cyber capabilities and provides context and possible attribution of adversarial cyber activities.
Relevant Reports, Briefings & Reading Material:
Provides an indispensable series of basic steps every American can take to safeguard their home networks from cyber intrusions
CI tips for cyber smarts:
- Spear Phishing and Common Cyber Attacks (PDF)
- Mobile Device Safety (PDF)
- Social Media Safety (PDF)
- Reducing Your Digital Footprint (PDF)
Other Links:
How We Work
“CI and security are interconnected and cannot be
executed in isolation.” – NCSC Director Evanina
The solutions to countering adversarial threats often lie at the intersection of the CI and security disciplines. CI has both a defensive mission — to protect our nation’s secrets and assets from theft, manipulation, or destruction by foreign adversaries by knowing their intentions, targets, capabilities and methods — and an offensive mission — to exploit, deceive or disrupt their hostile activities. Assuring the security of personnel, data, networks, national & trade secrets, and physical facilities – is a critical element. The U.S. faces higher cyber, physical, and technical threat levels than ever before; and security policies, standards, guidelines and practices must be based on sound threat analysis and risk management.
NCSC blends CI and security expertise to lead and support CI and security activities across the U.S. Government, the Intelligence Community and U.S. private sector entities at risk of intelligence collection, penetration or attack by foreign and other adversaries.
- For Counterintelligence, the Director of NCSC serves as both the National Counterintelligence Executive (NCIX) and the National Intelligence Manager for Counterintelligence (NIM-CI).
- For Security, NCSC is responsible for Security Executive Agent (SecEA) activities, on behalf of the Director National Intelligence, across the Executive Branch and is the DNI’s designee for oversight and direction for safeguarding national security programs across the IC.
We also:
- Co-lead, with the FBI, the National Insider Threat Task Force (NITTF).
- Provide CI & Security public awareness and education through the Know the Risk | Raise Your Shield national campaign and practitioner training for the public and private sectors.
- Work closely with Mission Partners and an array of Stakeholders to address the enduring and emerging foreign and other adversarial threats to accomplish our five Strategic Goals.