New NSA director urges more intelligence sharing with allies

The new director of Cyber Command and the National Security Agency used his first all-hands meeting to urge his workforces to share more intelligence with U.S. allies and partners, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Gen. Josh Rudd told his personnel to work with other allied countries “until it hurts,” one of the people said.

Rudd also said that while the Trump administration has emphasized southern-border security, the NSA still should keep a watchful eye on foreign adversaries such as Russia and China, the second person said.

Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the internal meeting. Rudd was confirmed to lead both organizations earlier this month.

Nextgov/FCW has asked NSA and Cyber Command for comment.

The mission priorities described by Rudd might reassure allies and partners that routinely exchange electronic intelligence with the United States, after months of unease over how White House policies have reshaped intelligence-sharing relationships.

Rudd used the term “YESFORN” — a play on the “NOFORN” classification — to emphasize expanded intelligence sharing with allies, one of the people said.

Both people also said Rudd wants to emphasize a culture of speed, integration and innovation, signaling a push for near real-time signal collection and analysis, tighter informating-sharing across organizations and faster adoption of emerging technologies to track threats.

Rudd comes from a less traditional background than past military leaders who have helmed the two organizations. Up until his confirmation earlier this month, Rudd served as the number two at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and he has spent his career largely in special operations and joint command roles. But some former officials and China analysts view Rudd’s Indo-Pacific background as relevant to U.S. cyber operations involving Beijing.

In his nomination hearings, Rudd told senators that his experience consuming and acting on cyber intelligence qualifies him to serve in the position. 

In the new role, he will have to contend with declining morale inside NSA, as well as significant workforce cuts that were influenced by Trump 2.0 efforts to shed government bloat and spending waste.

Until Rudd’s confirmation, NSA and Cyber Command have been without a permanent leader since far-right activist Laura Loomer pushed for the firing of the post’s previous occupant, Gen. Timothy Haugh, last April.