From Government Executive, August, 1998:
The National Security Agency is losing ground in the fight to keep hard-to-find cryptography experts from being lured to greener pastures. By Richard Lardner Price Waterhouse didn't become a force in the consulting world by ignoring market trends. So it was no surprise when the firm decided to expand its information security operation. After all, the Internet has completely changed the way business is done: Paper is out, electrons are in. But just as electronic commerce is skyrocketing, so too are the odds that sensitive corporate information might be tampered with as it travels through cyberspace. With the private sector beginning to recognize that the digital door swings both ways, there's growing demand for the "risk management" services Price Waterhouse and other companies are offering to help keep the hackers at bay. To snare these potential clients, the company needed to hire hundreds of information technology professionals. Trouble is, information protection may be a huge growth area, but the talent pool is mighty shallow. So officials at Price Waterhouse did what many other commercial enterprises have done, and continue to do. They targeted a group of employees at the Defense Department's secretive National Security Agency, where thousands of the federal government's best and brightest spend their days eavesdropping on other countries while at the same time ensuring that U.S. information networks are secure. Because of the highly sensitive missions the agency performs, companies like Price Waterhouse know they are getting employees who are extremely good at what they do and are solid citizens too-NSA is picky about whom it hires and conducts thorough background investigations. Full text: http://www.jya.com/nsa-loss.htm