The NSA is watching you . . .

One day I watched the movie, Good Will Hunting, where a kid played by Matt Damon goes through therapy for his damaged past. Despite being in trouble with the law several times, he is very smart, primarily in math; which catches the eye of the NSA, who offers to recruit him. After watching it, I looked up the NSA on my computer. The NSA is the National Security Agency, which is the one of the largest U.S. intelligence agencies (estimated 30,000-40,000 employees), and is the main manager of signals intelligence for the United States. The agency was started on November 4, 1952, and is headquartered in Fort Meade, Maryland. In fact, the NSA is actually the leading employer for the state of Maryland. Here is a picture of the NSA headquarters in Maryland.

 

The NSA is known quite well for their surveillance abilities. Under the Bush administration, the NSA was under the "terrorist surveillance program", which authorized them by executive order to be able to monitor (without search warrants) phone calls, Internet activity, and any other communication involving any party believed to be outside the U.S. According to the newspaper, The Baltimore Sun, the NSA has the single largest group of supercomputers. As a result, it makes sense that the NSA wanted Will Hunting because of his amazing math skills, which are important for computer science. The interesting thing about applying for the NSA is you must go through a polygraph test. It serves as a security protocol, and they even do it for existing employees every 5 years. Since the NSA takes care of the country's most sensitive and important intelligence activities, the application process can include a medical screening, drug test, and a extensive background check. Hopefully this insight that I have provided will spark interest in you to start a career in criminal justice world.