Terrorism Fight Prods NSA to Look Beyond Its Fortress

[Rose Siding]

Nicknamed "No Such Agency" and "Never Say Anything" for its legendary secrecy, the National Security Agency conceals its headquarters behind tall fences topped with barbed wire. Its employees are in the business of breaking codes, eavesdropping and guarding secrets. And its normally reticent leaders rarely call attention to themselves outside the agency's sprawling campus.

So it was an extraordinary event when some of the agency's top officials emerged in Annapolis about a year ago at the opening of a business center dedicated to helping start-up homeland security companies.

Their message was also extraordinary: The NSA needs help fighting the war against global terrorism.
...
As the intelligence industry continues to expand since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the clandestine agency is playing a more prominent -- and visible -- role in the Washington region. With plans to hire 7,500 new employees over five years, the NSA, already Anne Arundel County's largest employer, is undergoing its largest recruiting drive since the Cold War.

The agency is also increasingly opening its doors to private companies for help in developing spy technologies.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43264-2005Jan2.html