50 U.S.C. § 3383 — National Counterintelligence and Security Center

**(a) Establishment** There shall be a National Counterintelligence and Security Center. **(b) Head of Center** The Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center shall be the head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. **(c) Location of Center** The National Counterintelligence and Security Center shall be located in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. **(d) Mission** The mission of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center shall include organizing and leading strategic planning for counterintelligence activities of the United States Government by integrating instruments of national power as needed to counter foreign intelligence activities. **(e) Functions** Subject to the direction and control of the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the functions of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center shall be as follows: (1) **National threat identification and prioritization assessment** — Subject to subsection (f), in consultation with appropriate department and agencies of the United States Government, and private sector entities, to produce a strategic planning assessment of the counterintelligence requirements of the United States to be known as the National Threat Identification and Prioritization Assessment. (2) **National Counterintelligence Strategy** (A) *Requirement to produce* — Subject to subsection (f), in consultation with appropriate department and agencies of the United States Government, and private sector entities, and based on the most current National Threat Identification and Prioritization Assessment under paragraph (1), to produce a strategy for the counterintelligence programs and activities of the United States Government to be known as the National Counterintelligence Strategy. (B) *Revision and requirement* — The National Counterintelligence Strategy shall be revised or updated at least once every three years and shall be aligned with the strategy and policies of the Director of National Intelligence. (3) **Implementation of National Counterintelligence Strategy** — To evaluate on an ongoing basis the implementation of the National Counterintelligence Strategy and to submit to the President periodic reports on such evaluation, including a discussion of any shortfalls in the implementation of the Strategy and recommendations for remedies for such shortfalls. (4) **National counterintelligence strategic analyses** — As directed by the Director of National Intelligence and in consultation with appropriate elements of the departments and agencies of the United States Government, to oversee and coordinate the production of strategic analyses of counterintelligence matters, including the production of counterintelligence damage assessments and assessments of lessons learned from counterintelligence activities. (5) **National counterintelligence program budget** — At the direction of the Director of National Intelligence— (A) to coordinate the development of budgets and resource allocation plans for the counterintelligence programs and activities of the Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and other appropriate elements of the United States Government; (B) to ensure that the budgets and resource allocation plans developed under subparagraph (A) address the objectives and priorities for counterintelligence under the National Counterintelligence Strategy; and (C) to submit to the National Security Council periodic reports on the activities undertaken by the Office under subparagraphs (A) and (B). (6) **National counterintelligence collection and targeting coordination** — To develop priorities for counterintelligence investigations and operations, and for collection of counterintelligence, for purposes of the National Counterintelligence Strategy, except that the National Counterintelligence and Security Center may not— (A) carry out any counterintelligence investigations or operations; or (B) establish its own contacts, or carry out its own activities, with foreign intelligence services. (7) **National counterintelligence outreach, watch, and warning** (A) *Counterintelligence vulnerability assessments and surveys* — To develop standards and criteria for counterintelligence risk assessments and surveys of the vulnerability of the United States to intelligence threats, including with respect to critical infrastructure and critical technologies, in order to identify the areas, programs, and activities that require protection from such threats. (B) *Outreach* — To carry out and coordinate outreach programs and activities on counterintelligence to other elements of the United States Government, and the private sector, and to coordinate the dissemination to the public of warnings on intelligence threats to the United States. (C) *Research and development* — To ensure that research and development programs and activities of the United States Government, and the private sector, direct attention to the needs of the counterintelligence community for technologies, products, and services. (D) *Training and professional development* — To develop policies and standards for training and professional development of individuals engaged in counterintelligence activities and to manage the conduct of joint training exercises for such personnel. (E) *Vulnerabilities from foreign commercial spyware* (i) *Consultation* — In carrying out efforts to secure covered devices, to consult with the private sector of the United States and reputable third-party researchers to identify vulnerabilities from foreign commercial spyware (as defined in [section 3232a(a) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title50-section3232a/a&num=0&edition=prelim)) and maintain effective security measures for such devices. (ii) *Covered device defined* — In this subparagraph, the term “covered device” means any electronic mobile device including smartphones, tablet computing devices, or laptop computing devices, that is issued by an element of the intelligence community for official use. **(f) Additional requirements regarding National Threat Identification and Prioritization Assessment and National Counterintelligence Strategy** (1) A National Threat Identification and Prioritization Assessment under subsection (e)(1), and any modification of such assessment, shall not go into effect until approved by the President. (2) A National Counterintelligence Strategy under subsection (e)(2), and any modification of such strategy, shall not go into effect until approved by the President. (3) The Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center shall submit to the congressional intelligence committees each National Threat Identification and Prioritization Assessment, or modification thereof, and each National Counterintelligence Strategy, or modification thereof, approved under this section. (4) In this subsection, the term “congressional intelligence committees” means— (A) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and (B) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives. **(g) Personnel** (1) Personnel of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center may consist of personnel employed by the Center or personnel on detail from any other department, agency, or element of the Federal Government. Any such detail may be on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis, at the election of the head of the agency detailing such personnel. (2) Notwithstanding section 104(d) 11 See References in Text note below. or any other provision of law limiting the period of the detail of personnel on a nonreimbursable basis, the detail of an officer or employee of United States or a member of the Armed Forces under paragraph (1) on a nonreimbursable basis may be for any period in excess of one year that the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center and the head of the department, agency, or element concerned consider appropriate. **(h) Treatment of activities under certain administrative laws** The files of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center shall be treated as operational files of the Central Intelligence Agency for purposes of section 701 of the National Security Act of 1947 ([50 U.S.C. 3141](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title50-section3141&num=0&edition=prelim)) to the extent such files meet criteria under subsection (b) of that section for treatment of files as operational files of an element of the Agency. **(i) Oversight by Congress** The location of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence shall not be construed as affecting access by Congress, or any committee of Congress, to— (1) any information, document, record, or paper in the possession of the Center; or (2) any personnel of the Center. **(j) Construction** Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the authority of the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, or the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as provided or specified under the National Security Act of 1947 or under other provisions of law.