DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL (U) Mathematician: An Insider's View FROM: Diagnosis and Exploitation Support (S31153) Run Date: 09/04/2003 (U//FOUO) What comes to mind when someone tells you he is a SERIES: mathematician? ... Word problems? High school teacher? Graphing (U) A Day in the Life of... calculators? Pocket protectors? White boards filled with mile long equations? Slide rules, even? While those thoughts may be appropriate when characterizing some mathematicians, here in SID 1. Office Manager: there is another dimension to the picture. Jack-of-All-Trades 2. The Life of An Exec (U//FOUO) To really clear up that mental picture, you have to know 3. Working as a Policy that the words mathematician, cryptanalyst, and Analyst: One cryptomathematician are used synonymously in the field of Person's Perspective Diagnosis. I'm a mathematician and that is my field. 4. Data Flow Manager: The Data Fairy? (C//SI) Diagnosis is the study of cipher, enciphering key, or 5. Mathematician: An cryptovariables (initial key settings) in an attempt to determine the Insider's View cryptographic algorithms from which they were generated. I work 6. NSA Linguists on the Transnational (Target) Integrated Diagnosis Focus Team. 'Panning for Gold' The team is made up of twelve mathematicians/cryptanalysts. Our 7. Plenty of Action on task is to perform diagnosis on indigenous cryptographic systems the Action Team and simultaneously improve the health of cryptanalytic diagnosis. 8. On The Collection (Officer's) Plate (C//SI) During the course of a normal day I run cryptanalytic 9. Sitting in the SOO's routines on UNIX desktop workstations, supercomputers, and Chair special-purpose devices using available software tools. The routines 10. You Can't Keep the employ standard cryptanalytic tests which search for patterns and NSC Waiting!.. A Day non-random properties in data. If I devise a test for which no in the Life of a available tools exist, then I will write software to perform the test. GRSOC Analyst If I detect a significant statistical property in data, I will immediately seek, expect, and receive help from team members. (U//FOUO) The team collaborates on diagnosis problems. It is important for me to document my test results - failures as well as successes - in our internal project news groups. It is also important for me to read the postings made by others on our news groups. The team discusses recent developments, data models, ideas, and future direction during our daily (!) team meetings. (C//SI) On one hand, cryptanalysis can be frustrating. It is not a "do-it-yourself" endeavor. Cryptanalysts realize that the importance of achieving a successful diagnosis far exceeds the associated personal achievement. On the other hand, diagnosing a cryptographic system can prove to be a very rewarding experience. Achieving success is neither instantaneous nor deterministic. A successful diagnosis may evolve over the course of months or perhaps years. The diagnostic process may be undertaken by new cryptanalysts and it may be revisited. Sometimes taking a short step away from a problem leads to the best step forward that a mathematician will take. "(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet

without the consent of S0121 (DL sid comms)." DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108