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(S//SI) How Japanese SIGINTers Helped NSA
FROM:
FAD's Asia/Trans-Asia Office (DP15)
Run Date: 05/06/2005
Third Party cooperation yielded valuable collection against
(U) From the recent-history book, here's a great example of how NSA's foreign partnerships can
translate into success for the United States Cryptologic System (USCS).
(S//SI) For many years, NSA had maintained continuity on
signal
Collection of the
signal allowed us to identify the transmitting
and to DF* the
user, which provided location, although the text of the communications was unreadable. Many
organizations in the Intelligence Community were the beneficiaries of the related intelligence,
and especially PACOM* for its mission
in its area of
operations.
(U//FOUO) Ominously,
disappeared.
had been in decline throughout 2002, and eventually
(S//SI) At the end of July 2003, Japan's Directorate for SIGINT (DFS) notified us of their belief
that they had found the replacement signal for
The next month, representatives from
NSA Headquarters and KRSOC* quickly visited the DFS to confirm the find. The signal was
confirmed as the successor to
and NSA switched into high gear to get a collection
capability developed and deployed.
(S//SI) We're now able to recognize, collect, demodulate and decode the signal, as we could the
signal. While the underlying text remains enciphered and unreadable, as was
we're able to distinguish valid messages from practice/test messages through traffic analysis of
message externals. Also, we're once again able to identify the
and we're
enjoying greater success in DF-ing the transmitter.
(S//SI) In honor of DFS's discovery, NSA deferred to DFS in the naming of the new signal. The
signal's cover name is
(S//SI) This event highlights the benefits reaped by the USCS and the Intelligence Community
through NSA's SIGINT partnerships. The DFS discovery and subsequent NSA-DFS collaboration
have allowed us to continue to provide the Intelligence Community, and particularly PACOM,
with intelligence related to a
, thereby ensuring security in the Pacific
Theater.
(S//SI) To date, NSA has continued a robust technical exchange with the DFS on
(U)
*(U) Notes:
DF = Direction-Find(ing)
PACOM = U.S. Pacific Command
KRSOC = Kunia Regional SIGINT Operations Center
(U//FOUO) This article is reprinted from March's Foreign Affairs Digest (originally entitled "NSA
+ Foreign Partners = Success")
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108