National Geographic recently had a "special" on "Inside the NSA: America's Cyber Secrets" where they mentioned and showed this letter. They said the NSA didn't end up doing anything with it but still wanted to classify it for 50+ years so that no one else could use the ideas within.
My favorite parts of the episode were:
- All of the Windows XP machines everyone was using
- The flashing red lights on the ceiling in secure areas (familiar for those that have been in similar secure facilities)
- The obnoxious re-enactments where real employees pretend to gather and discuss on-going developments. It was outright silly.
In secure facilities (particularly defense related) where secret information or networks are in use, visitors must be accompanied by an escort and announced before entering. Everyone has to stop any actual sensitive work, shut off their monitors to sensitive systems, and cover up sensitive documents on your desk. Then as long as the visitor is in a certain area of the building, red flashing lights (no siren/noise) must stay on to alert everyone else that an un-cleared visitor is currently in the area. This is why most "actual work" gets done in basements and extra-secure rooms where visitors rarely ever see, because the constant interruptions are devastating.
My favorite parts of the episode were:
- All of the Windows XP machines everyone was using
- The flashing red lights on the ceiling in secure areas (familiar for those that have been in similar secure facilities)
- The obnoxious re-enactments where real employees pretend to gather and discuss on-going developments. It was outright silly.
The episode just aired in January and it looks like it isn't on their site yet, but there are related videos: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/search/?search=%22Inside+t...
EDIT: The NSA press release mentions it too. They say "featured" but they didn't spend more than 5 minutes out of the hour program.