Had the incompetent idiots at NSA done their job, Snowden would not have been able to smuggle out the data, but they did not. The most simple way of making sure that one cannot use a flash drive is to disable the port on the computer or to order computers without the flash drive port. Obviously, no one was thinking when they ordered the computers, installed them or supervised the department for which Snowden worked!
This is just another example of bureaucrats sloppily doing their job since they know that they cannot get fired. They can work for the government do less than stellar work and retire with a great pension. No striving for excellence, trying to do the best job possible, that would only get them in trouble.
So we get Snowden and who knows how many others that have stolen information right from under our noses using banned items. This is what happens when government gets so big that no one is watching the store. It is time to cut the size of government, punish those who allowed Snowden to steal data, and to eliminate the programs that harm our Constitutional rights.
Conservative Tom
Snowden Used Banned Flash Drive to Smuggle NSA Data
A website supporting Edward Snowden is displayed on a computer screen in Hong Kong on June 13.
Friday, 14 Jun 2013 04:42 PM
The small data-storage device has been banned from use on secret military networks, including those of the National Security Agency, for at least five years, The Washington Times reports.
"He should not have been able to do either of those things" without raising red flags, a private-sector IT security specialist told the Times.
NSA officials "were lying down on their job if they didn't disable the USB port," the specialist said, referring to the small socket on the side of a computer where the thumb-sized drives are inserted.
The agency is still trying to determine the extent of Snowden's breach of top-secret information. It did not respond to a request for comment from The Washington Times.
Snowden, a former NSA contractor, smuggled electronic copies of an unknown number of classified documents out of the agency's operations center in Hawaii, where he worked, The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday.
A U.S. official told The Washington Times "that's one avenue" investigators are following.
Thumb drives have been banned from use on classified military systems since malicious software, thought to be of Russian origin, infected the secret computer networks of the U.S. Central Command five years ago, The Washington Times reports.
Lawmakers briefed on the matter by NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander have not commented on the USB drive, but said Snowden also exceeded his authorized access to the agency's computer systems.
"It's clear that he attempted to go places that he was not authorized to go, which should raise questions for everyone," Michigan Rep. Michael Rogers, the GOP chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told the Times.
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It's ridiculous. This wasn't even a government computer. The job was given to private contractors. They obviously were not exercising any security controls over Snowden, if he could just walk out with a memory card loaded with data.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, Kim leaked to Rosen from an extremely controlled computer system at DOD. If these guys want to do it, they will find a way.
Beyond the technology, though, the other problem is that they give top secret clearance to a million people. There is bound to be a few Kims and Snowdens in that large a number no matter how tightly you vet them.
--David
Whoever supervises the "contract" employees should be responsible for the thumb or flash drive that Snowden used. You can't avoid the issue because they are contractors. That is a cop out.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. The contractors have to be responsible for their own employees. Nobody should be allowed to walk into or out of the facility with a thumb drive. My brother-in-law worked on top secret military contracts at Boeing. Nobody from DOD policed their facility. Boeing took responsibility. They screened him coming and going. There is no way he could have done what Snowden did.
ReplyDelete--David
Yes, the employer should have primary responsibility, however, the government officials overseeing the project have ultimate responsibility. It is too easy to let the bureaucrats off and blame the contractor. The contractor is trying to make money and they will cut expenses as far as they can to maximize their return. Therefore, it is incumbent on the officials overseeing the contract to ensure that secrets are not walking out the back door.
ReplyDeleteThe only way to ensure direct control is to keep the whole operation in-house and have government employees, using government computers at government facilities guarded by government security personnel. Build a second Pentagon. That would not even eliminate the problem. Look at Kim. He was working under extremely tight security, and still leaked the info to Rosen. If a guy like Kim or Rosen is determined to do it, they will figure out a way.
ReplyDeleteHowever, that is no excuse for having such lax security that someone like Snowden can confidently just walk out the door with a memory stick in his pocket. That should never be possible on a program of this magnitude.
-David
We agree, the security was very lax in both the Kim case and the snowden case. Government must be the final line of security, it is their contractors who are doing wrong.
ReplyDelete