ISC2 Exam ISSEP Topic 2 Question 16 Discussion

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) is a crypto-logic intelligence agency

of the United States government. It is

administered as part of the United States Department of Defense. NSA is responsible for the

collection and analysis of foreign communications

and foreign signals intelligence, which involves cryptanalysis.

NSA is also responsible for protecting U.S. government communications and information systems

from similar agencies elsewhere, which

involves cryptography. NSA is a key component of the U.S. Intelligence Community, which is headed

by the Director of National Intelligence.

The Central Security Service is a co-located agency created to coordinate intelligence activities and

co-operation between NSA and U.S.

military cryptanalysis agencies. NSA's work is limited to communications intelligence. It does not

perform field or human intelligence activities.

Answer option A is incorrect. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), known

between 1901 and 1988 as the National

Bureau of Standards (NBS), is a measurement standards laboratory which is a non-regulatory agency

of the United States Department of

Commerce. The institute's official mission is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial

competitiveness by advancing measurement science,

standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve quality of life.

Answer option C is incorrect. The Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) is a United States

intergovernmental organization that sets

policy for the security of the US security systems. The CNSS holds discussions of policy issues, sets

national policy, directions, operational

procedures, and guidance for the information systems operated by the U.S. Government, its

contractors, or agents that contain classified

information, involve intelligence activities, involve cryptographic activities related to national

security, etc.

Answer option D is incorrect. The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal

government of the United States of

America. It consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the

United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election.

Each of the 435 members of the House of Representatives represents a district and serves a two-

year term. House seats are apportioned

among the states by population. The 100 Senators serve staggered six-year terms. Each state has

two senators, regardless of population.

Every two years, approximately one-third of the Senate is elected at a time. The United States

Congress main function is to make laws. The

Office of the Law Revision Counsel organizes and publishes the United States Code (USC). It is a

consolidation and codification by subject

matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States.