The National Security Agency (NSA) has officially announced that they have joined GitHub as part of their Technology Transfer Program (TTP). GitHub is an open source development platform that allows developers to host and review code, manage projects and build software alongside millions of other developers. The NSA TTP works with agency innovators by streamlining NSA technologies to businesses and industries. The main goal of the TTP is to:
‘Establish partnerships to translate NSA discoveries into commercial products and practical applications that strengthen national security and help grow the economy, and accelerate the exchange of expertise and capabilities between NSA and industry, academia, and other government agencies to advance NSA mission, technology, and innovation.’
With this initiative in mind, the NSA has shared 32 programs on their GitHub page with some of the projects being listed as ‘coming soon’. While the NSA actually became active on GitHub in 2015, and many of the projects are not new however, such as SELinux (security enhanced Linux) which has been around for years now, this renewed public effort is a deviation from previous operations. The NSA is hoping to benefit from public enhancements made to their technology while the public benefits by adopting, enhancing and commercializing the software.
This is not the first time that the NSA has opened its doors to the public. After the massive Edward Snowden leak that happened in 2013, the NSA had started to peel back their curtain of secrecy by creating their own Twitter account in an effort to increase their presence with the general public. Now, with the announcement of their GitHub page, the NSA could be potentially looking to recruit new talent, or ideas to stay ahead in the constantly evolving world of cybersecurity.
The NSA’s GitHub page can be found here: https://github.com/nationalsecurityagency
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