How the NSA Threatens National Security

Through many disclosures, we've learned an enormous amount about the National Security Agency’s surveillance capabilities, how the agency is failing to protect us, and what we need to do to regain security in the Information Age.

First and foremost, the surveillance state is robust. It is robust politically, legally, and technically. Second, the NSA continues to lie about its capabilities. Third, US government surveillance is not just about the NSA. The Snowden documents have given us extraordinary details about the NSA's activities, but we now know that the CIA, NRO, FBI, DEA, and local police all engage in ubiquitous surveillance using the same sorts of eavesdropping tools, and that they regularly share information with each other. We have no evidence that any of this surveillance makes us safer. Not only is ubiquitous surveillance ineffective, it is extraordinarily costly. Finally, these systems are susceptible to abuse.

The President's Review Group recommendations are largely positive, but they don't go nearly far enough. We need to recognize that security is more important than surveillance, and work towards that goal.

[Schneier is the chief technology officer of Co3 Systems, a computer-security firm]