The NSA has lost the trust of the American people as a result of the Edward Snowden leaks, and needs to be more transparent to gain it back, the NSAs new director said Wednesday in his first public comments since taking control of the embattled spy agency.

I tell the [NSA] workforce out there as the new guy, lets be honest with each other, the nation has lost a measure of trust in us, Admiral Michael Rogers told a conference of the Women in Aerospace conference in Crystal City, Va.

In the future, he said, If we make a mistake, you will hear about it. Thats my job as director and I have no problem with it. We are not going to hide our mistakes.

(Also on POLITICO: Surveillance orders declined in 2013)

The whole media leaks issue as we call it, has caused quite a stir, said Rogers, who was sworn in as director of NSA and assumed command of U.S. Cyber Command at the beginning of April.

Rogers didnt lay complete responsibility at the doorstep of the NSA: He blamed public mistrust on the way the newsmedia had framed the issues raised in the Snowden revelations.

From my perspective the debate and the dialogue to date have been very uneven, he said.

Your neighbors are saying to you: Man, Ive been listening about you on the TV and reading about you in the papers and I had no idea what a bad person you are, he joked.

He said the NSA and its staff had to work to earn and sustain Americans trust, but could not be too open about the work of the ultra-secret agency, which specializes in electronic eavesdropping and other surveillance using the latest high technology.

I believe in transparency and I will be as transparent as possible, but I also have to be mindful that in doing so I cannot undermine the specifics of what were doing to protect the country, he said.

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New NSA chief: Agency has lost trust

By Gabe LaMonica, CNN

updated 11:51 AM EDT, Fri April 18, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- A Supreme Court justice Thursday night suggested the legality of National Security Agency activities could be decided by the court.

Three days after Pulitzers were awarded to newspapers that revealed the NSA's surveillance activities, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg deflected a question about Edward Snowden, who leaked NSA data.

When asked, "Do you believe that Snowden is a whistleblower or a traitor?" Ginsburg, who was joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, told an audience at the National Press Club in Washington that she could not say.

"It's also possible, is it not," she said, "that the question you raise could come before the court. And we are not at liberty to preview."

If Snowden is extradited to the United States and charged with federal crimes for his leaks, his case could come before the court.

In June of 2013, The Guardian and The Washington Post published reports that revealed the NSA's bulk collection of U.S. citizens' phone records and other clandestine surveillance activities. That sparked a firestorm concerning Fourth Amendment protections for U.S. citizens from "unreasonable searches and seizures" and the issue of where that protection weighs in the balance between national security and personal privacy.

On Thursday, the two justices were asked whether The Post deserved the highest accolade in journalism, a gold medal for public service administered by Columbia University in New York City for nearly 100 years.

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Supreme Court could weigh in on NSA case, justice says

April 2014 Breaking News Do you use Google or Yahoo? NSA Intercepts Google And Yahoo Traffic
April 2014 Breaking News Do you use Google or Yahoo? NSA Intercepts Google And Yahoo Traffic Overseas - Last days final hour News Prophecy update Published: October 30, 2013 The National...

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April 2014 Breaking News Do you use Google or Yahoo? NSA Intercepts Google And Yahoo Traffic - Video

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The massive National Security Agency data center about 25 miles south of Salt Lake City is using far less water than expected, utility records obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune show.

Records from the city of Bluffdale, which sells water to the facility, show monthly water use at the $1.7 billion data center peaked last July at 6.2 million gallons. Thats well below what the 1 million gallons a day that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicted the center would need to cool its computer processers.

Water records from January 2012 through February 2012 show the centers use has fluctuated, consuming more water in summer months as temperatures rise. The centers December bill showed 3.8 million gallons were consumed. In January, water consumption rose to nearly 4.9 million gallons before falling in February to about 2.8 million gallons.

With those numbers so far below what engineers predicted, it raises questions about to what degree the center is operational. NSA officials have refused to say if the center is up and running after its scheduled opening last October was stalled by electrical problems.

NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines did not respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday.

I would guess that its not up and fully running, James Bamford, the author of several books on the NSA who in 2012 wrote about the Utah center in Wired magazine, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The difference between what they were planning and what they are actually using is magnitudes of difference.

That makes it logical to assume the center is not fully operational and may be having further problems, Bamford said.

Its not likely that initial estimates about how much water the center would need were wrong, he said.

Building a data center is not very unique, Bamford said. Theyve done it many times all over the country, and Im sure they can judge how much water will be used.

Records show the NSA has made contract-required minimum monthly payments to the city, which were about $29,000 a month in July and increased to about $32,000 a month in January 2014.

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NSA data center uses less water than expected

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In a blog post, White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel discussed how the U.S. National Security Agency decides whether to keep a cyber security flaw secret, or disclose it to the public.

TORONTO In a bid to make citizens more confident about how the U.S. National Security Agency operates, the agency has revealed that some cyber vulnerabilities are kept secretin the interest of national security.

In a blog post, White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel discussed how the U.S. National Security Agency decides whether to keep a cyber security flaw secret, or disclose it to the public.

Disclosing a vulnerability can mean that we forego an opportunity to collect crucial intelligence that could thwart a terrorist attack, stop the theft of our nations intellectual property, or even discover more dangerous vulnerabilities that are being used by hackers or other adversaries to exploit our networks, read the blog.

The blog directly references reports that the NSA knew about and exploited the recently discovered Heartbleed bug a flaw in OpenSSL which made it possible for hackers to snoop on encrypted Internet traffic.

READ MORE: NSA knew about, exploited Heartbleed bug to gather intelligence

In early April, Bloomberg reported that the NSA decided to keep the major vulnerability secret in the interest of national security. Both the White House and the NSA have denied these claims.

In the blog, Daniel said that building a huge stockpile of undisclosed vulnerabilities would not be in the interest of national security or U.S. citizens but, he goes on to say that collecting some vulnerabilities provides a way to conduct intelligence collection in order to protect national security.

Weighing these tradeoffs is not easy, and so we have established principles to guide agency decision-making in this area, the blog read.

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NSA reveals some cyber security flaws are left secret

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NSA Surveillance 2
Chris Conley of the ACLU discusses the NSA surveillance program.

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NSA Surveillance Panel 1
Rainey Reitman of Electronic Frontier Foundation speaks about the NSA.

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NSA Surveillance Panel 1 - Video

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The German opposition is urging Chancellor Angela Merkel to pressure US President Barack Obama into destroying her NSA file. A leading opposition politician has told reporters that the destruction...

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ZyXEL NSA 325 v2 Hands On - Deutsch / German notebooksbilliger.de
Weitere Informationen zum ZyXEL NSA 325 v2: http://www.notebooksbilliger.de/zyxel+nsa+325+v2+168878 Inhaltsangabe des Videos: bis 0:30 Vorstellung vom ZyXEL NSA-325 V2 ab 0:32...

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MVI 1871 NSA Might Be OnTo Me!
I have received comments from a number of my viewers that are having difficulty in viewing any attachments on the video #39;s that I send. They are also not able to,"like," my video #39;s.

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MVI 1871 NSA Might Be OnTo Me! - Video

New water records finally released to the Salt Lake Tribune appear to confirm that the National Security Agency's new data storage facility in Bluffdale, Utah, may not be fully operational.

Reporter compelled Bluffdale to provide data on Utah Data Center's water usage.

The data shows that since July 2013, the facility used 6.2 million gallons of water in a month, the highest single month in more than two years of data. For that, the NSA paid $28,596 monthly to the City of Bluffdale, the minimum bill amount.

Under the two entities water contract, that minimum bill jumped to $31,692 as of 2014. However, since July 2013, the monthly water usage fell, rose, and fell again in 2014, reaching a low point of 2.8 million gallons as of February 2014 (the most recent data point).

In October 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Utah Data Center had experienced 10 [electrical] meltdowns in the past 13 months. The paper added that the Utah site continuously draws 65 megawatts of power, which could power a small city of at least 20,000. Bluffdale itself is a small city of 8,000 people, located just south of Salt Lake City. It is also the headquarters of the Apostolic United Brethren, a Mormon fundamentalist group.

The NSA did not respond to Ars repeated requests to find out whether the facility is operational.

The water is believed to be used to cool the massive data center the NSA has been building at the site. In order to accommodate the NSAs water needs, the Tribune reports:

Bluffdale built a $3 million water-delivery system for the center. To ensure it would be able to repay the bond, the city required minimum monthly paymentscalled take or payfrom the NSA. But the contract assumes the NSA will exceed those minimums, at which point Bluffdale begins charging the NSA at a rate that currently amounts to $2.05 per 1,000 gallons.

The version of the contract between the NSA and Bluffdale released by the city redacts the planned amounts of the minimum payments and the Utah Data Centers projected water usage. Its unclear how much more water the NSA could receive with the minimum payment.

When the originalwater records request was denied by the city, the rulingcited legal advice from David Sherman, the associate director for policy and records at the NSA.

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New water records show NSA Utah Data Center likely behind schedule

THE UNITED STATES National Security Agency (NSA) has advised the American people that although it knows that telling them about security issues is in the public interest, it will not always do that.

Following the exposure of the Heartbleed vulnerability in OpenSSL, the NSA explained its stance via the White House blog, sort of, and revealed that each security vulnerability that comes its way is assessed on a range of merits and will only be disclosed depending on its risk assessment.

White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel penned the blog post and explained the position. He said that if there is a chance of the US being exploited by terrorists or other opponents following disclosure then the NSA will not disclose the threat.

"There are legitimate pros and cons to the decision to disclose, and the trade-offs between prompt disclosure and withholding knowledge of some vulnerabilities for a limited time can have significant consequences," he said.

"Disclosing a vulnerability can mean that we forego an opportunity to collect crucial intelligence that could thwart a terrorist attack, stop the theft of our nation's intellectual property, or even discover more dangerous vulnerabilities that are being used by hackers or other adversaries to exploit our networks."

Daniel said that stockpiling vulnerabilities at the expense of the American people is not in the "national security interest", but it does appear that there is an element of that.

"Building up a huge stockpile of undisclosed vulnerabilities while leaving the internet vulnerable and the American people unprotected would not be in our national security interest. But that is not the same as arguing that we should completely forgo this tool as a way to conduct intelligence collection, and better protect our country in the long-run," he added.

"Weighing these tradeoffs is not easy, and so we have established principles to guide agency decision-making in this area."

Daniel also took the time to repeat the NSA position that it knew nothing of the infamous Heartbleed vulnerability, explained in the video below, before it hit the headlines earlier this month.

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NSA will sit on security vulnerabilities because of terrorism

Politics National Security

In the debut episode Sunday of his new HBO show Last Week Tonight, Daily Show alum John Oliver grilled former National Security Agency chief Gen. Keith Alexander about the spy agencys controversial surveillance programs. Oliver won praise for being remarkably tough in the segment, especially for a comedian, but it isnt the first time Alexander sat down for a nationally-televised interview.

In December last year, Alexander granted unprecedented access to the CBS News program 60 Minutes, including an extensive interview with the top spook himself. The 60 Minutes segment on the NSA scored extraordinary access into a notoriously secretive organization but at perhaps too high a cost. The segment was panned for being remarkably easy on the agency, especially for a venerated investigative news program.

TIME wanted to see how tough-for-a-comedian stacked up against easy-for-a-venerated-news-program. So we did a completely unscientific, utterly subjective match up to help weigh the two interviews against one another. (Full disclosure: TIME is currently owned by Time Warner, the same parent company that owns HBO, though that will change in the coming months.)

Behold, the comedian-journalist throwdown of the century (or the week, or the day, anyway): John Oliver v. 60 Minutes.

1. On the reach of the NSAs programs.

Among the low points of 60 Minutes correspondent John Millers interview with Alexander was when Miller asks if the NSAs phone records collection constitutes spying on Americans and basically answers his own question. You dont hear the call? Miller says, offering Alexander his answer. You dont hear the call, Alexander repeats, to the surprise of no one. Miller didnt see the point in pressing the issue any further. And while Alexanders answers were not strictly untrue as a logistical matter, the NSAs collection of phone metadata, including call duration, timestamp, and phone numbers, is not trivial, which John Oliver proves with one piercing retort.

But thats not nothing. Thats significant information. Otherwise you wouldnt want it.

Point Oliver

2. On the status of NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

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NSA Throwdown: John Oliver v. 60 Minutes

Book TV - 2014 San Antonio Book Festival: Panel on the NSA, Big Brother, and Democracy
From the San Antonio Book Festival in Texas, a panel on government surveillance and secrecy featuring Heidi Boghosian, author of "Spying on Democracy," and J...

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CIA NSA DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPON ATTACK ON WHISTLE BLOWER
DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPON ATTACK CIA DoD (NSA:DARPA) OPERATIVES FOR FIVE HOURS NOW CAUSING SEVERE SUDDEN EXTREME AGGRESSION RAGE AND AGITATION CAUSING BLOOD PRESSURE TO SKYROCKET IN SECONDS...

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MVI 1847 Obama #39;s NSA Denies FOIA About MH 370!
Folks this is scary, this is really, really scary, why would Obama #39;s NSA deny Dr Taitz request under FOIA, about MH Flight 370. http://www.dcclothesline.com/...

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NSA CT Announces Dick Bruso April's Guest Speaker

The National Speaker's Association Connecticut chapter has announced NSA member Dick Bruso will be the guest speaker at the organization's monthly meeting to be held April 29.

His clients include best selling authors and in-demand speakers, as well as successful entrepreneurs and business leaders. He is a contributing author, on the topic of branding, to NSA's popular books, "Paid To Speak and Speak More!" Dick is an active member of NSA and NSA/Colorado. He served as president of NSA/CO for 2005-2006 and prior to then was a member of the NSA National PR Advisory Task Force. Dick, also, served as the 2009-2010 chair of the NSA Writers & Publishers PEG, as the chair of the NSA Academy for Professional Speaking for 2011-2012 and as the co-chair of the 2012 Cavett Institute.

The subjects covered in this upcoming meeting are intended to benefit anyone who speaks for a living or does so to obtain clients for their business. Providing a platform for networking and education, the meeting is one of many held by the organization. Members and guests are welcome.

Holding seven to eight such meetings per year at the Shelton Public Library - Huntington Branch the NSA CT chapter offers free attendance to members and associates. Guests can attend at a rate of $35 per person. Registration is now open by visiting the link below and clicking on the "Register Now" link: https://nsact.org/meet-reg1.php?mi=bc2110eb65fbb3c5ccbe15c1429086a1&id=49$$AUTOLOGIN$$

Visitors can join any meeting by going to the website, and can also find out more through the organization's calendar. They can also find a speaker through the Member Directory or contact the organization directly.

The next meeting, featuring guest speaker and NSA member Dick Bruso, will take place April 29, from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Shelton Public Library - Huntington Branch, 41 Church Street, Shelton. To learn more about the NSA CT, go to http://nsact.org. About the National Speaker's Association Connecticut Chapter.

The National Speaker's Association Connecticut Chapter holds meetings seven to eight times a year covering various topics helpful to those who speak professionally. Special meetings such as Speaker 101 are intended to help anyone who wants to get into the speaking business. Meetings are free for members and associates.

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READER SUBMITTED: NSA CT April 2014 Meeting