bandy@lll-crg.ARpA (Andrew Scott Beals) (11/19/85)
> I can almost guarantee that the National Security Agency is > not on USENET or ARPANET. I can further almost guarantee that > very few employees of NSA are even aware that USENET exist. There used to be a host called "TYCHO" (nickname "NSA") at host zero on imp fifty-seven. (26.0.0.57) (information taken from the old NIC (Network Information Center for Internet) host tables) (TYCHO was an old PDP-11 running version 6 unix (which rumors had flown for quite some time that someone actually proved was secure)). Now, on that same imp port, there is a machine called "DOCKMASTER". Here is what the NIC has to say about DOCKMASTER: The National Computer Security Center (DOCKMASTER) 820 Elkridge Landing Road Room A1127, Building FANX-II Linthicum, MD 21090 NetAddress: 26.0.0.57 Nicknames: NCSC-MULTICS Host Administrator and Liaison: Aliff, Stephen W. (SWA1) Aliff.DODCSC@MIT-MULTICS (301) 850-5888 Multics, if I remember correctly, was just given some level of certification by the government that it was secure. Interesting, no? Looking up Linthicum MD shows that it's just north of BWI (airport). There is a NASA center right near there and next to that is an un-marked installation that has gentlemen with rifles guarding it. NIC has this to say about host 1 on imp 57: National Security Agency (COINS-GATEWAY) COINS Network Control Center Fort George G. Meade, MD 20755 NetAddress: 26.1.0.57 Nicknames: COINS Host Administrator and Liaison: Smith, Ronald L. (RLS6) COINS@USC-ISI (301) 688-6375 The NIC generally likes to give a machine the name "-GATEWAY" when that machine is a gateway into another part of the internet. (the machine type of COINS is a Plurbus, which is a multiprocessor gateway machine manufactured by BBN (the folks who do the ARPANET and MILNET hardware). Side note: at the last (Portland) USENIX, I happened across a gentlemen (very cleancut) whose badge listed him as working for the "Department of Defense, Fort Meade Maryland". I said "Oh, you're one of those NSA guys!" To which he replied "How did you know?!"... "Everyone else in DOD says /which/ part of DOD they work for..." andrew scott beals lawrence livermore national laboratory/university of california Pooh-bah for LLL-CRG.ARPA (415) 423-1948 (work) (533-1948 (FTS)) ps. This information is trivially availiable to anyone who has a car, a 300baud modem, a terminal. -- There once was a thing called a V-2, To pilot which you did not need to-- You just pushed a button, And it would leave nuttin' But stiffs and big holes and debris, too. andy beals - bandy@lll-crg.arpa - {seismo,ihnp4!sun,dual}!lll-crg!bandy