CBS 60 Minutes: NSA Speaks Out On Snowden, Spying 504
An anonymous reader writes "This week CBS New's 60 Minutes program had a broadcast segment devoted to the NSA, and additional online features. It revealed that the first secret Snowden stole was the test and answers for a technical examination to get a job at NSA. When working at home, Snowden covered his head and screen with a hood so that his girlfriend couldn't see what he was doing. NSA considered the possibility that Snowden left malicious software behind and removed every computer and cable that Snowden had access to from its classified network, costing tens of millions of dollars. Snowden took approximately 1.7 million classified documents. Snowden never approached any of multiple Inspectors General, supervisors, or Congressional oversight committee members about his concerns. Snowden's activity caught the notice of other System Administrators. There were also other interesting details, such as the NSA has a highly competitive intern program for High School students that are given a Top Secret clearance and a chance to break codes that have resisted the efforts of NSA's analysts — some succeed. The NSA is only targeting the communications, as opposed to metadata, of less than 60 Americans. Targeting the actual communications of Americans, rather than metadata, requires a probable cause finding and a specific court order. NSA analysts working with metadata don't have access to the name, and can't listen to the call. The NSA's work is driven by requests for information by other parts of the government, and there are about 31,000 requests. Snowden apparently managed to steal a copy of that document, the 'crown jewels' of the intelligence world. With that information, foreign nations would know what the US does and doesn't know, and how to exploit it."
Cables are dangerous (Score:5, Funny)
NSA considered the possibility that Snowden left malicious software behind and removed every computer and cable that Snowden had access to from its classified network, costing tens of millions of dollars.
Because next time I write a virus, I will use it to infect a UTP cable.
Entrance exam (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Lie-fest from the NSA (Score:5, Funny)
Other than lies, lies and more damn lies, what else can NSA come up with ?
Statistics!
Re:Stole exam answers? (Score:5, Funny)
I know it marks me as a giant nerd, but that still makes me think of the written chuunin exam in Naruto, where the whole point was to cheat on it without getting caught...
but where are the Golden Tablets? (Score:3, Funny)
Sounds like he was channeling Joseph Smith.
Sponsored (Score:5, Funny)
This episode of 60 minutes was brought to you by NSA
Re:Wonder why NSA didn't go to Fox network first ? (Score:5, Funny)
Strange bedfellows and all that. I bet there were some surreal scenes when the anti-NSA protest groups gathered, met their usual opposition, read each other's placards and banners, did a double take, then started checking their directions to make sure they were at the right protest. Hell, you want to really freak them out, get Tammy Baldwin and Sarah Palin on the same soapbox denouncing the NSA, it'll be the most ambivalent crowd in history.
But seriously folks, between the UK and the US, I don't think there's one decent, credible politician with even the slightest scrap of meaningful power making themselves heard right now.
Re:Stole exam answers? (Score:5, Funny)
ooooOOOOOoooohhh...
Now it's clear why he jumped ship and spilled the beans on the NSA:
Snowden had been brought to Hawaii as a cybersecurity expert working for Dell’s services division but due to a problem with the contract was reassigned to become an administrator for the Microsoft intranet management system known as Sharepoint.
As a developer who was once given the task of managing and developing Sharepoint, I find his actions to be perfectly balanced and justifiable.
Re: Lie-fest from the NSA (Score:4, Funny)
September 11 happens every year.