NSA to create new cybersecurity arm

The National Security Agency (NSA) announced Tuesday that it will form a cybersecurity arm in October to unify its foreign intelligence and cyber defense missions.

The new directorate will be responsible for defending against “threats to National Security Systems and the Defense Industrial Base,” the NSA said in announcing the new initiative.

NSA Director Paul Nakasone, who is expected to formally unveil the initiative later Tuesday, said the directorate will allow the agency to “redefine its cyber mission.”

“What I’m trying to get to in a space like cyberspace is speed, agility, and unity of effort,” Nakasone said in a statement released by the agency.

The directorate will be led by Anne Neuberger, who has previously served as the NSA’s first chief risk officer. Neuberger has also worked as the NSA’s deputy director of operations and the lead of the “Russia Small Group,” the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command task force created last year to thwart Russian cyber interference.