NSA Leak Raise Doubts Among Analysts

NSA Leak Raise Doubts Among Analysts

Doubts were raised by security experts on the NSA leak where Edward Snowden copied sensitive documents and brought them out of the National Security Agency. The leak comes three years after the government limited access to intelligence following the release of classified documents by Army Pfc. Bradley Manning.

Former NSA general counsel Stewart baker indicated doubts may emerge on the efficiency of the controls the government set for the system since anything Snowden moved outside of his workplace can also be taken by foreign hackers.

A former FBI senior official who asked not to be quoted due to the sensitivity of the case indicated that the computer specialist Snowden will likely be charged with espionage and the transport of national defense data due to the NSA leak.

The family members of Snowden were interviewed in connection to the NSA leak to obtain an idea on the motivation of the Snowden, and whether an intelligence service recruited him. Questions were also raised on the possibility that he may be cooperating with China since he sought refuge in Hong Kong.

Snowden retained the security clearance that he acquired at the CIA even after he worked with Booz Allen Hamilton, a government contractor. This resulted to questions on the granting of clearance by the CIA, according to a former senior official who insisted in remaining anonymous since he did not have the authority to talk about the NSA leak.

Snowden claimed to be a computer systems administrator with technical functions although he had access to a good volume of classified information.

Despite the pronouncements of Snowden, analysts have indicated that he may have exaggerated the volume of information he was able to access. Snowden claimed that he can wiretap anyone from his desk. However, former NSA and CIA lawyer Robert Deitz said it was not true since it was illegal and a keyboard auditing system was in place. This monitors the work the analysts were doing.

Even though NSA analysts can query databases, these are subjected to strict supervision and external oversight, according to former NSA officials.

A former operator indicated that it was not easy to obtain data since technical limitations are set, and people are tasked in reviewing these queries. Obtaining a phone number or email address is not enough for an analyst to obtain data due to the checks that were placed in the system.

Snowden may have accessed the computer network of the NSA since he was a computer expert, according to a former government official. Another issue that is being investigated is the access that he was given that allowed him to obtain the data that resulted to the NSA leak.

Posted by James Fried on Tuesday June 11 2013, 8:38 AM EST. Ref: LA Times. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0