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“Have you ever given classified [secret government] information to a
foreign entity?”
And all NSA job candidates have to fill out the government’s
Standard Form 86. This 127-page questionnaire asks applicants about
their schooling; where they have lived, worked, and traveled; foreigners
they’ve worked with or been friends with; and other life history. Then
staffers with the agency verify that each answer to each question is true.
The application process is long and involved, but it’s effective in
weeding out unqualified and unsuitable job candidates. It is highly
unlikely that any foreign spies or people with criminal backgrounds
would make it past the screening.
Sands-Ramshaw said he was “impressed not only by [his fellow
NSA employees’] technical ability, but also by their dedication to the
mission. They are the most earnest and conscientious group of people
I have ever met.”
During his first year at the agency, Sands-Ramshaw worked
close to home, at NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland.
He was assigned to the agency’s Computer Network Operations
Development Program. His job title was global network vulnerability
analyst. His job was to write code for computer systems that gather
and manage electronic intelligence. Though not as thrilling as James
Bond–style missions, it was vitally important. Somebody has to keep
the NSA computer systems running.
His office was a small room in a bland building. It was much like
any other office building in any other office park in any other city in
the United States, except it was on a US Army base with extremely
tight security. Like all the other rooms in the building, the office
contained several desks, each with its own computer and monitor.
Sands-Ramshaw did his coding there.
A typical day for Sands-Ramshaw and his colleagues involved
developing, running, maintaining, and modifying computer software
for the NSA. The software scooped up intelligence from phones and
the internet, including emails, text messages, social media posts, and
web pages generated by both foreign and US citizens. Other NSA

SPIES LIkE US: InSIdE thE WoRLd of CYBERIntELLIgEnCE 7