<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_11838"><span class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_11844">Brian,</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_12094" dir="ltr"><span class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_11844"><br></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_12097" dir="ltr"><span class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_11844">Yes, it was the National Security Agency. As far as I know they were just gaining experience with the new technology. In the second quarter of 1973, </span>BBN undertook a study of “techniques for transmitting private data
through the ARPA Network” and proposed developing a “Private Line
Interface” (PLI) to let “simple-minded” systems use the ARPAnet “in lieu
of a point-to-point communication circuit.” The PLI design also allowed
use of crypto equipment for classified traffic. <a class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_11917" target="_blank" href="http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/763734.pdf">[BBN Report 2580</a>, pp 10-13]. I think this was the beginning of NSA involvement with ARPAnet, and the NSA node may have been related to the PLI project. You could look at <a id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_11996" href="http://xbbn.weebly.com/bbn-internet-engineering-timeline.html">http://xbbn.weebly.com/bbn-internet-engineering-timeline.html</a> for other engineering milestones related to the PLI project. Others on the list may have more specific knowledge of NSA involvement with ARPAnet.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_12075" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_12114" dir="ltr">Cheers,</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_12116" dir="ltr">Alex<br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_11838"><br></div><br> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_12119" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_12118" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_12117" dir="ltr"> <hr id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_12123" size="1"> <font id="yui_3_16_0_1_1442860720831_12121" face="Arial" size="2"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Brian E Carpenter <brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> internet-history@postel.org <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Monday, September 21, 2015 7:52 PM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> [ih] Eyes on the Internet?<br> </font> </div> <div class="y_msg_container"><br>I was just touching up my stock talk on the history of the<br>Internet, and I noticed a node on the 1977 ARPANET map called<br>"NSA" (a PDP-11) with links to SDAC and NBS.<br><br>Does anybody happen to know (and is allowed to write) what<br>they did with it?<br><br>(afaik, the existence of the NSA was made public in ~1975.)<br><br>Regards<br> Brian Carpenter<br><br><br>_______<br>internet-history mailing list<br><a ymailto="mailto:internet-history@postel.org" href="mailto:internet-history@postel.org">internet-history@postel.org</a><br><a href="http://mailman.postel.org/mailman/listinfo/internet-history" target="_blank">http://mailman.postel.org/mailman/listinfo/internet-history</a><br>Contact <a ymailto="mailto:list-owner@postel.org" href="mailto:list-owner@postel.org">list-owner@postel.org</a> for assistance.<br><br><br></div> </div> </div> </div></body></html>