NSA Imposes Rules to Protect Secret Data Stored on Its Networks

The National Security Agency has imposed new rules designed to sharply restrict the sharing and downloading of top-secret material from its computer networks after a review of how Edward Snowden, a former agency contractor, managed to expose several of the country’s most sensitive surveillance programs.

First among the new procedures is a “two-man rule” — based on the model of how nuclear weapons are handled — that requires two computer systems administrators to work simultaneously when they are inside systems that contain highly classified material. The NSA also plans to keep the most sensitive data in a highly encrypted form, sharply limiting the number of system administrators — like Snowden — who can move data throughout the nation’s intelligence agencies and the Defense Department.