Ex-NSA contractor stole 500 mn pages of sensitive govt record

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/576985/ex-nsa-contractor-stole-500.html
Washington, Oct 21, 2016, (PTI)

A former contractor with the National Security Administration (NSA) has stolen a whopping 500 million pages of sensitive government record over the last two decades, according to federal prosecutors.

In a court filing made public yesterday, prosecutors said the former NSA contractor Harold 'Hal' Martin III was arrested on August 27 in Maryland and poses a "grave danger" to the US.

He has been charged under Espionage Act.

Ahead of a detention hearing set for today in Baltimore, the government has said that Martin should not be allowed to leave the country.

He worked for Booz Allen Hamilton - the same firm that hired NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Martin was entrusted to work with classified information for government agencies and allegedly had been stealing information since 1996.

He is alleged to have communicated online with others in languages other than English, including in Russian.

In June 2016, he downloaded information regarding the Russian language as well as other foreign languages.

Federal prosecutors alleged that examination of the digital media seized from Martin indicates extensive use of sophisticated encryption, anonymization, and virtual machine technologies.

There is evidence that he has remote data storage accounts and has engaged in encrypted communications, they alleged.

Martin also had encrypted communication and cloud storage apps installed on his mobile device, prosecutors said, adding that he has the knowledge and training to house some or all of the stolen digital information in cyberspace, where he could easily access or transfer it.

He was in possession of a sophisticated software tool which runs without being installed on a computer and provides anonymous internet access, leaving no digital footprint on the machine.

The prosecutors said Martin had swiped at least 50,000 gigabytes of information. One single gigabyte is enough space to store about 10,000 pages of documents containing images and text.

His internet activity also suggests that he was attempting to locate anonymous internet access and to run operating systems on his machines that would not leave any forensic evidence of his computer activities, they alleged.

In July 2016 he watched a video about how individuals who attempt to remain anonymous on the internet are caught by authorities.

He has a demonstrated ability to conceal his online communications and his access to the internet, prosecutors added.

 

[Hindustani78]

In this June 6, 2013 file photo, the sign outside the National Security Administration (NSA) campus in Fort Meade (File Photo: AP/Patrick Semansky)

By AFP, Washington Friday, 21 October 2016
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US prosecutors on Thursday said they expected to file espionage charges against a private contractor for the National Security Agency suspected of stealing an “astonishing quantity” of classified information.

Harold Martin III was arrested August 27 in Maryland and poses a “grave danger” to the United States, prosecutors wrote in a filing ahead of a detention hearing set for Friday in Baltimore.

Martin, who has now been fired, worked for Booz Allen Hamilton - the same firm that hired the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Martin was entrusted to work with classified information for several government agencies and allegedly had been stealing information since 1996.

“The defendant violated that trust by engaging in wholesale theft of classified government documents and property - a course of felonious conduct that is breathtaking in its longevity and scale,” prosecutors wrote.

They said Martin had swiped at least 50,000 gigabytes of information, though not all of it was classified.

One single gigabyte is enough space to store about 10,000 pages of documents containing images and text.

“The defendant was in possession of an astonishing quantity of marked classified documents which he was not entitled to possess, including many marked (secret),” prosecutors said.

Some of the documents “appear” to contain national defense information and Martin allegedly kept the files in his car and lying around his Maryland home.

Investigators also allegedly found an “arsenal” of 10 firearms including an assault rifle.

“The government anticipates that the charges will include violations of the Espionage Act, an offense that carries significantly higher statutory penalties and advisory guideline ranges than the charges listed in the
complaint,” prosecutors wrote.

Martin’s lawyers have previously said he loves his family, and said there was no evidence he intended to betray his country.

Martin does not appear to have a valid passport and investigators have not said he sent information to foreign governments.

But prosecutors noted: “The defendant has also communicated online with others in languages other than English, including in Russian.”

Booz Allen has said it reached out to offer full cooperation with the authorities as soon as it learned of the arrest, and quickly fired Martin.

The arrest came after investigators began looking into the theft of source code used by the NSA to hack adversaries’ computer systems, such as those of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

Such access would enable the NSA to plant malware in rivals’ systems and monitor - or even attack - their networks.

The case is an embarrassing new blow for both the NSA and Booz Allen, which the New York Times said helps build and operate many of the NSA’s most sensitive cyber operations.

Former NSA contractor Snowden has been living in Russia since shortly after leaking documents revealing the scope of the agency’s monitoring of private data.


Last Update: Friday, 21 October 2016 KSA 17:55 - GMT 14:55

 

[MrJohnDoe]

C.I.A. covert operatives exposed by the N.S.A. contractor Harold T. Martin III

Kidnapping and torture of people on the ground of their alleged participation in terrorist activities is the practice commonly used by the C.I.A. We believe the international community has the right to know the names of the U.S. secret agents who are personally responsible for illegally punishing the people the United States deems undesirable all around the world. Former N.S.A. contractor Harold T. Martin III stole classified documents that contained the following information.

The list of CIA officers and recruited informants who participated in organizing the kidnapping and torture of people suspected of terrorist activity​

• Rodney Guy Smith, Chief of CIA Special Activities Division 2003-2006, now executive for Abraxas
• Alejandro D. Martinez, ("Duece Martinez"), analyst, out of CIA
• Robert Bickle CIA interrogator during 2000s, unknown status now
• Robert Kandara chief of CIA High Value Detainee program during 2003 to at least 2004
• John Bevan, CIA officer, deputy in High Value Detainee Program, still active in CIA as of 2009
• Thomas Fletcher, CIA officer in HVD program, status now not known
• Alan Jorsey pilot for CIA during 2000s
• Alfreda Bukoski (portrayed in Zero Dark 30), HVD program senior official, believed to still be active
• Jose Rodriguez, 2004-2007 CIA directory director of operations and Director of National Clandestine Services, now retired
• Gina Haspel, CIA station chief for London as of 2009, former HVD
• Bruce Jessen CIA contractor, advised CIA on interrogation
• Frank (Francisco) Chap, CIA reporters officer in HVD, posted to NSA as of 2009
• Michael K. Winograd, CIA station chief, Bangkok, 2002-2005; has or had physical possession of interrogation tapes
• James E. Mitchell CIA contractor formally with military's Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, now private contractor with - - Bruce Jessen, interrogation advisor, involved in decision to destroy video tapes
• Michael D'Andrea chief of operations in the CIA CTC, 2002; later station chief, Cairo.
• Robert Grenier, CIA chief of station, Pakistan 1999-2002, director of CTC 2004-2006, now retired from CIA, working at Kroll, Wash DC as of 2009
• Kirk Hubbard CIA psychologist, interrogation advisor, 2000s
• Carol S. Rosenblum CIA psychologist, interrogation advisor
• Richard Blee, chief of station Pakistan 2002-2004, later chief of station postings, now private consultant, involved in HVD interrogation program
• Martin (Marty) Martin, senior officer 2000-2005, later chief of station, Cairo, involved in interrogation program
• Robert Dannenberg, chief of Central Eurasia Division 2004 to 2006, including Romania, Poland and other European countries, involved in many aspects of CIA's Special Activities Division, CTC, and HVD
• Robert Richer, CIA Associate Director for Operations (ADDO) until late 2005; 2002-2004 Chief of the Near East and South Asia Division, involved in renditions program
• CIA Atttomies: John Radsen, Jonathan Fredman, John Rizzo, Robert Eatinger, Paul Kelbaugh, Robert Monahan, Steven W. Hermes involved in renditions/torture/HVD program
• James Pavit, CIA deputy Director for operations 1999-2004, involved in many aspects of detention and interrogation
• John Sano, chief of East Asia Division 2005, deputy dir National Clandestine Service 2005-2007, now retired
• Jami Miscik Deputy Dir for Intelligence 2002-2004, now retired, involved in Special Activities Division
• Scott White Associate Deputy dir for intelligence 2002-2004, dir for support 2006-2008, CIA associate deputy dir as of 2009 replacing Michael Morell position.
• Ronald Czametsky, chief of station Poland 2002-2005, CIA chief of station Moscow as of 2009.
• Paul Zalucky, chief of station Poland 2005-2007
• Larry Seals chief of CIA Air Branch 2001-2004, chief of rendition program 2004 to unknown date
• Scott D. Wever officer in CIA Air Branch at various points in 2001 to 2004, employed by CIA contractor CSC 2004-2005, re-hired by CIA 2006-2007 to work in renditions program
• William L. Ballhaus CEO DynCorp International, contractor to CIA renditions program 2002-2005
• Stephen Lee program manager at CSC/Dyncorp 2001-2005 for renditions program
• Willian Vigil CSC/Dyncorp program manager involved with CIA contracting operations, handled CIA contracted aviation operations from 2005-2007, later in 2007 transfer to McNeil Security another CIA contractor involved with flint operations
• Lawrence Dan Engelhaupt CSC/Dyncorp director involved with CIA contracting operations 2002-2007, also transfer to McNeil 2007
• Steve Dugre CSC/Dyncorp program manager involved with CIA contracting ops from 2001 to 2007, also transfer to McNeil 2007
• Michael Edward Anderson, pilot, Aero Contractors of North Carolina, pilot for CIA operators aircraft N379P, N313P, flew CIA missions to Afghanistan, Morocco, Poland blacksite

Allons enfants de la Patrie!​

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.businessinsider.com/edward-snowden-russia-trump-putin-2017-2

Russia could return Edward Snowden to the US as a "gift" to President Donald Trump, according to two US intelligence sources cited by NBC News on Friday.

One unnamed official, who NBC said gleaned information from "a series of highly sensitive intelligence reports," said such a move could be an attempt to "curry favor" with the Trump administration.

Snowden is a former US National Security Agency contractor who stole top-secret documents in 2013 that revealed mass surveillance efforts by the US government. He shared those documents with journalists. Russia has been sheltering Snowden since 2013, and recently granted him permission to stay through 2020.

Trump has in the past called Snowden a traitor and a spy, and suggested Snowden may have given US secrets to other countries. Snowden denied those allegations on Friday, saying on Twitter, "I never cooperated with Russian intel. No country trades away spies, as the rest would fear they're next."

Snowden also tweeted an interview he gave to Yahoo News' Katie Couric, in which he again declared, "I'm independent ... I have always worked on behalf of the United States ... Russia doesn't own me."

The notion that Russia could send Snowden back to the US as a gift to Trump is buoyed in part by Trump's stated desire for warmer relations with the Kremlin.

Trump, throughout the presidential election, expressed an affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Those intimations were often echoed by Trump surrogates, including national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Those moves were regularly condemned by both Republican and Democratic leaders who have warned that Putin cannot be trusted.

In an interview with NBC News, former deputy national security adviser Juan Zarate said, "I think at the end of the day, Moscow holds the cards here."

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1052626/world

MOSCOW: Edward Snowden’s Russian lawyer on Saturday dismissed a US report that Moscow was considering extraditing the NSA whistleblower as a “gift” to President Donald Trump.


Anatoly Kucherena, who has represented Snowden since his arrival in Russia in 2013, told Interfax news agency that “Russia has no legal basis to hand over Snowden.”

US channel NBC on Friday quoted a senior US official with access to highly sensitive intelligence reports as saying Russia was considering the move “to curry favor” with Trump.

Snowden’s US lawyer Ben Wizner told NBC that he was not aware of such plans.

“All this talk is just ordinary speculation. Someone is indulging in wishful thinking,” Kucherena said, insisting that Snowden “lives in Russia absolutely lawfully.”

The former National Security Agency contractor shook the American intelligence establishment to its core in 2013 with a series of devastating leaks on mass surveillance in the US and around the world.

He has been living in exile in Russia since the summer of 2013 after spending weeks in the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

Russia’s immigration service in January extended Snowden’s residency permit to 2020.

“Russia doesn’t trade in people and human rights, although American secret services constantly try to draw us into various acts of provocation,” Kucherena said.

Snowden wrote on Twitter on Friday that the NBC report was “irrefutable evidence that I never cooperated with Russian intel.”

“No country trades away spies, as the rest would fear they’re next,” wrote Snowden.

The US has charged him with espionage and theft of state secrets after he released thousands of classified documents in 2013.

Former CIA acting director Michael Morell in an opinion piece in January suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin could hand over Snowden to mark Trump’s inauguration that month.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded by condemning what she called a proposal to “hand over those who seek protection.”

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.businessinsider.com/harold-martin-allegedly-stole-snowden-2017-2

Former National Security Agency contractor Harold Martin allegedly stole documents that seem far more sensitive than what has come from the Snowden leaks.

For more than two decades, Martin allegedly made off with highly-classified documents that were found in his home and car that included discussions of the US military's capabilities and gaps in cyberspace, specific targets, and "extremely sensitive" operations against terror groups, according to an indictment released Wednesday.

Martin was arrested by the FBI at his home on August 27, 2016. Agents found thousands of pages and "many terabytes of information" there, according to court documents reviewed by The New York Times.

With the release of the indictment, it has become more clear of what was apparently in those files.

The indictment charges Martin with 20 counts of having unauthorized possession of documents from not only the NSA, but also from US Cyber Command, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the Central Intelligence Agency. While many of the documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden were top-secret, they mostly consisted of PowerPoint presentations and training materials.

Top-secret documents allegedly stolen by Martin, however, offer much more specific and damaging details to potential adversaries. Here's a sampling (via the indictment):

• A 2014 NSA report outlining intelligence information regarding foreign cyber issues, containing foreign cyber intrusion techniques
• A 2009 draft of a United States Signals Intelligence Directive, which outlined specific methods, capabilities, techniques, processes, and procedures associated with [computer network operations] used to defend the United States.
• An NSA anti-terrorism operational document concerning extremely sensitive US planning and operations regarding global terrorists.

With just those three documents, an adversary would have details on how the NSA stops hackers from penetrating its networks and what kind of gaps still exist, along with how the agency plans operations against terror groups. Though it's not apparent from the indictment that Martin passed the documents along to anyone, if he did so it would be a huge setback to the intelligence community.

Soon after Martin's arrest, his lawyers told The New York Times that he "loves his family and his country. There is no evidence that he intended to betray his country.” A US official described him as a "hoarder."

The indictment continues (emphasis added):

• An outline of a classified exercise involving real-world NSA and US military resources to demonstrate existing cyber intelligence and operational capabilities.
• A description of the technical architecture of an NSA communications system.
• A USCYBERCOM document, dated August 17, 2016, discussing capabilities and gaps in capabilities of the US military and details of specific operations.
• A USCYBERCOM document, dated May 23, 2016, containing information about the capabilities and targets of the US military.
• A 2008 CIA document containing information relating to foreign intelligence collection sources and methods, and relating to a foreign intelligence collection target.

For at least a portion of Martin's career, he served in the NSA's Tailored Access Operations unit, an elite group of government hackers tasked with breaking into foreign networks. Some US officials told The Washington Post that Martin allegedly took more than 75% of TAO's library of hacking tools, a potentially massive breach of an outfit that has been shrouded in secrecy.

According to The New York Times, some investigators suspect Martin may possibly be the source of the trove of TAO hacking tools that were posted online last year by a group calling itself "The Shadow Brokers." Those disclosures likely spurred "a lot of panic" inside the agency, according to a former TAO operator who spoke with Business Insider last year.

“The FBI investigation and this indictment reveal a broken trust from a security clearance holder,” Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the FBI’s Baltimore Division said in a statement.

“Willfully retaining highly classified national defense information in a vulnerable setting is a violation of the security policy and the law, which weakens our national security and cannot be tolerated. The FBI is vigilant against such abuses of trust, and will vigorously investigate cases whenever classified information is not maintained in accordance with the law.”

Martin faces a maximum sentence of 200 years in prison. His initial court appearance is scheduled for February 14.

 

[Hindustani78]

https://www.thehindu.com/news/inter...-more-talks/article25013373.ece?homepage=true

Earlier this week, China added $60 billion of U.S. products to its import tariff list as it hit back at U.S. duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods that go into effect from Sept. 24. The escalating trade dispute has spooked financial markets.

The United States is optimistic about finding a way forward in its trade dispute with China, but it does not have a date scheduled for further talks as it assesses Beijing's response to the latest round of tariffs, a senior White House official said on Friday.

The official said despite its protestations, China was well aware of U.S. demands it halt what Washington considers unfair trade practices. U.S. President Donald Trump has made clear his resolve on the issue, the official said, and the two sides remain in touch.

“We have been very clear in all of these meetings about what is ... required,” the official said. “I am still optimistic that there is a positive way forward, and the president wants us to continue to engage to try to achieve a positive way forward.”

The official's comments came ahead of a report by the Wall Street Journal that China had cancelled mid-level trade talks with the United States, as well as a proposed visit to Washington by vice premier Liu He originally scheduled for next week.

Earlier this week, China added $60 billion of U.S. products to its import tariff list as it hit back at U.S. duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods that go into effect from Sept. 24. The escalating trade dispute has spooked financial markets.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on condition of anonymity, the official made clear the administration's ultimate goal was not to separate the interlinked U.S. and Chinese economies, but he said companies could choose to alter their supply chains if Beijing did not change course.

“Our goal here is not to cleave off the Chinese market from the U.S. market, I don't think that's good for long-term growth,” he said. “In the short term there is of course a risk that if China continues on the path it is, that some companies as a result of this may start ... to move supply chains.”

The official also said he hoped Canada would agree to join a U.S.-Mexico trade deal by the end of the month, while saying he thought U.S. lawmakers would support a bilateral deal with Mexico if that did not happen.

U.S. and Canadian officials have been engaged in talks to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement, a 1994 deal that underpins $1.2 trillion in trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The official dismissed concerns separate deals with Canada and Mexico would have a negative impact on supply chains.

“I think it's overblown to say that if we have separate deals with these two, that there still can't be a really high degree of integration,” he said.