Epstein Secrets

lso be targeted in enemy ter- ritories. Although repairing the damage might take many “decades,” according to Michael McConnell, the vice-chairman of Booz Allen, the new director had to get on with that task. McConnell, a for- | | Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r1.indd 207 @ 9/30/16 8:13AM | | HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_01

ntruthful about his degree in computer sciences, he not only had a SCI secu- rity clearance but was willing to take a cut in pay. In keeping with the Booz Allen business plan, such a recruit provided another cog in its profit machine. Not only had the NSA outsourced much of its computer opera- | | Epst_9780

yber-defense units of the army, navy, marines, and air force cyber forces were merged together and put under the command of the NSA director. General Keith Alexander became the first director of this new command. One problem for the Cyber Command was separating attacks by civilians, including criminals, hacktivist

have access to the Level 3 documents stored in these compartments. Nor, as was discussed earlier, was he given access to them when he transferred to Booz Allen because he had not completed the requisite training. Snowden had also, it will be recalled, relinquished his privileges as a system administrator wh

interest in exposing the NSA’s secrets, this person could supply him with the necessary guidance, steering a still unsuspecting Snowden first to the Booz Allen position and afterwards to his associates in Hong Kong. By taking sole credit for the coup in the video that he made with Poitras and Greenwald in Ho

the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force cyber forces, were merged together in this new command put under the command of the NSA director. NSA director Keith Alexander became the first director of this new command. One problem for the Cyber command was separating attacks by civilians, including criminals, hacktavist

the Level 3 breach was switching jobs on March 15th 2013. Snowden chose to leave his job as a system administrator at Dell SecureWorks to take job at Booz Allen as an analyst-in-training. His motive was not money, as it was a lower- paying position. At the time, he made this choice he had already set up an en

se” in Hawaii with his girl friend. Yet he chose to move to Booz Allen he also greatly increased the risk of exposure because the auditing system at Booz Allen could trace back unauthorized copying (though not in real time.) Presumably he knew, as he later told Greenwald and Poitras, that stealing documents

an be found in James Bamford, The Puzzle Palace, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1982, pp. 1-4 “the NSA learned ...”—Author Interview with General Keith Alexander “12 minute video ...”——This extraordinary video can be seen at http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-

nterest in exposing the NSA’s secrets, this person could sup- ply him with the necessary guidance, steering a still-unsuspecting Snowden first to the Booz Allen position and afterward to his associ- ates in Hong Kong. By taking sole credit for the coup in the video that he made with Poitras and Greenwald in H

ed. The FBI always had this power, if it obtained a warrant, but it did not previously have the “haystack” of records in a single database. Gen- eral Keith Alexander, who headed the NSA between 2005 and 2014, believed that maintaining such a haystack database made sense. “His approach was, ‘Let’s collect the whole

ndia?” Also, Shilpa Phadnis, “Edward Snowden Sharpened His Hacking Skills in Delhi,” Times of India, Dec. 4, 2013. 33 “It is a dead-end job”: Former Booz Allen official who requested anonymity, interview with author. 33 shaded by a sakura: The description of Snowden’s life in Maryland comes entirely from Li

ong, 2014 3, “No Such Agency”: The best description of the birth of the NSA can be found in Bamford, Puzzle Palace, 1-4. 4 the NSA learned: General Keith Alexander, interview with author. 4 twelve-minute video: This video can be seen at http://www.theguardian.com /world/video/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edwar

it did not change that decision even after it found out about his subterfuge.). According to Admiral McConnell, Snowden never actually worked in the Booz Allen offices, which are housed in a skyscraper in downtown Honolulu. Instead, he was immediately assigned to work at the NSA’s highly-sensitive National O

_—_As a result, Morell concluded “Snowden’s disclosures will go down in history as the greatest compromise of classified information ever.” General Keith Alexander, the head of the NSA at the time, came to a very similar assessment, asserting that Snowden did “the greatest damage to our combined nations’ intelli