WASHINGTON– The National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC)
debuts
Monday as the U.S. intelligence community seeks to stay ahead of the
aggressive
evolution of complicated espionage, cyber and security threats.
The NCSC will now become the parent organization of the Office of the National
Counterintelligence Executive (ONCIX), which was created by the
Counterintelligence Enhancement Act of 2002 to carry out counterintelligence
and
security responsibilities for the Director of National Intelligence.
The NCSC’s purpose is “to provide a leadership construct for (U.S. government)
security personnel, outside of the counterintelligence framework,” said NCIX
director William Evanina.
Evanina, who will be dual-hatted as the director of the NCSC, told WTOP the
creation of the center was predicated by the destructive growth and complexity
of
cyber threats, economic espionage, insider threats, and supply chain threats.
The rapid growth in internet-based attacks on U.S. government agencies and
businesses aimed at gathering personally identifiable information (PII) on
U.S.
citizens is a leading reason for the establishment of the NCSC. PII is often
collected, by foreign nation-states, for the purpose of attempting to use
U.S.
citizens as spies whether they are aware of it or not.
The agency said in a statement the NCSC will integrate and align
counterintelligence and security mission areas, and carry out
counterintelligence
and security responsibilities under a single organizational model, much like
the
National Counter-terrorism Center (NCTC) and the National Counter-
proliferation
Center (NCPC).
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