>From the CPSR Newsletter, Winter 1993: Computer Security Authority
During the 1980s a debate arose in Washington about whether authority for computer security shouId be entrusted to a civilian agency or an intelligence agency. A presidential directive signed by President Reagan, "NSDD-145" transferred computer security authority from the National Bureau of Standards (later renamed the National Institute of Standards and Technology) to the National Security Agency and gave the intelligence community authority for "sensitive but unclassified information." A subsequent memorandum from John Poindexter expanded this authority still further to "all computer and communications security for the federal government and private industry." As the government's authority to control access to computerized information expanded, the free flow of information diminished. Stories of agents visiting private information vendors and public libraries soon followed. At the same time, a wide range of other activities by the federal government further threatened to restrict access to information. Tom Walker
