Detailed US intelligence community’s $52.6 billion budget leaked

Leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and analyzed by The Washington Post reporters, the summary of the $52.6 billion US National Intelligence Program budget for the 2013 fiscal year reveals that, among other things:

• the CIA requested almost double the funding than the NSA
• these two agencies have “begun aggressive new efforts to hack into foreign computer networks to steal information or sabotage enemy systems”
• the US intelligence community was worried about insiders leaking confidential information even before the Snowden incident, and that they planned to investigate some 4,000 employees and contractors that have been given high-level security clearances
• the five mission objectives of the US intelligence community are to combat terrorism, warn US leaders about critical events, stop the spread of illicit weapons, conduct cyber operations, and defend against foreign espionage.
• “The documents make clear that U.S. spy agencies’ long-standing reliance on technology remains intact. If anything, their dependence on high-tech surveillance systems to fill gaps in human intelligence has intensified.”
• the NSA intended to spend some $49 million of research aimed at helping the cope with information overload
• some 35,000 employees from across the NSA, Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines have been involved in a “Consolidated Cryptologic Program”
• the CIA is working on creating tracking systems “that minimize or eliminate the need for physical access”
• “The NSA is planning high-risk covert missions, a lesser-known part of its work, to plant what it calls ‘tailored radio frequency solutions’ — close-in sensors to intercept communications that do not pass through global networks.”

For more details, I suggest you check out WaPo’s original article, and if you are interested in delving deep into this “Black Budget”, check out the redacted version, which is the only one currently available.