Page 6 - My FlipBook

computer network security
(defending networks from
online attacks). Sands-
Ramshaw easily met these
requirements.
“I was a spy for the
US government,” he said
about his new job. But he
quickly discovered that NSA
employees aren’t spies in
the way the fictional James
Bond is a spy. They don’t
go on missions in enemy
territory, they don’t carry
weapons and fancy spy
Fictional spies such as James Bond use guns
gadgets, and they’re never and other deadly weapons. Cyberspies,
in physical danger. Instead, on the other hand, usually work in offices.
the agency’s cyberspies Their tools are computers.
work behind the scenes
in a safe environment. They sit in front of computers, gathering and
analyzing electronic intelligence from the internet. Working as an
NSA spy is a desk job.
Many fictional spies operate outside the law. They lie, steal secret
information, and double-cross enemy agents. But Sands-Ramshaw
described his NSA coworkers as “law-abiding type[s].” They had to
be, since all potential NSA employees go through rigid background
checks, psychological screening, and polygraph (lie detector) tests.
During the background check, an NSA agent calls all the personal
and professional references a job candidate has listed and even
walks around the job candidate’s neighborhood or school and asks
people about them. The psychological screening is designed to
identify troubling personality traits, such as a tendency to lie or cheat.
During the polygraph test, job applicants answer questions designed
to determine if they are “law-abiding and patriotic.” One question is,

6 CYBERSPIES