Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Perhaps even worse than having it confirmed that our government is stomping all over our privacy, is the revelation that amateurs are in charge of doing it.

Courtesy of Slate:  

According to the Guardian, Snowden is a 29-year-old high school dropout who trained for the Army Special Forces before an injury forced him to leave the military. His IT credentials are apparently limited to a few “computer” classes he took at a community college in order to get his high school equivalency degree—courses that he did not complete. His first job at the NSA was as a security guard. Then, amazingly, he moved up the ranks of the United States’ national security infrastructure: The CIA gave him a job in IT security. He was given diplomatic cover in Geneva. He was hired by Booz Allen Hamilton, the government contractor, which paid him $200,000 a year to work on the NSA’s computer systems. 

Let’s note what Snowden is not: He isn’t a seasoned FBI or CIA investigator. He isn’t a State Department analyst. He’s not an attorney with a specialty in national security or privacy law. 

Instead, he’s the IT guy, and not a very accomplished, experienced one at that. If Snowden had sent his résumé to any of the tech companies that are providing data to the NSA’s PRISM program, I doubt he’d have even gotten an interview. Yes, he could be a computing savant anyway—many well-known techies dropped out of school. But he was given access way beyond what even a supergeek should have gotten. As he tells the Guardian, the NSA let him see “everything.” He was accorded the NSA’s top security clearance, which allowed him to see and to download the agency’s most sensitive documents. But he didn’t just know about the NSA’s surveillance systems—he says he had the ability to use them. “I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities [sic] to wiretap anyone from you or your accountant to a federal judge to even the president if I had a personal email,” he says in a video interview with the paper. 

Snowden’s leak is thus doubly damaging. The scandal isn’t just that the government is spying on us. It’s also that it’s giving guys like Snowden keys to the spying program. It suggests the worst combination of overreach and amateurishness, of power leveraged by incompetence. The Keystone Cops are listening to us all.

I heard just today that Booz Allen Hamilton has fired Snowden (Gee really?) but there is no indication that any of their other employees are any more trustworthy or qualified.

And to me at least the idea that there are rooms full of poorly screened, low level techs with access to our private e-mails and phone records is chilling.

However according to a recent Pew poll it appears that the majority of Americans simply do not care that the government is gathering their data which indicates that my prediction that this would be a scandal that could hurt the President was premature, and ultimately false.

I am not yet sure how I feel about that as I certainly feel we SHOULD be upset, yet I'm also gratified that yet another Right Wing attack against the President has run out of ammunition.

If ever I could have been described as conflicted, now would be that time.

40 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:48 PM

    I am not sure the widely reported salary of $200,000 is correct. Today Booz Allen posted on their website that Snowden had been terminated on June 10 and had been paid at the rate of $122,000. Now that still isn't chump change, but it isn't $200,000. Booz Allen has huge incentives (future government contracts) to get this right, so I am inclined to believe the post. http://www.boozallen.com/media-center/press-releases/48399320/statement-reports-leaked-information-060913

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    1. Anonymous4:35 PM

      I became a 'Computer Specialist' only through seniority as clerk in the accounting part of a telecommunications company (part of Ma's Co.) I had key-card access to the mainframe area. We were running 24/7, and although I was at the high-end of the clerical wage scale, I also made a lot more through double time rates. The perks in the computer field are pretty good.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:07 PM

      Booz Allen paid Snowden $122,000 in salary but Booz billed the government far more than that for the contract. A contractor firm bills the client for the workers salary + benefits + overhead + (the big piece) PROFIT. It's likely that us taxpayers were paying $200,000+ for the services of Snowden.

      Delete
  2. I'm having trouble getting worked up over this. After all, Kroger and Walgreens know more about me than the government does. . . and Google tracks all my websites, sending me ads from sites I have visited. We all knew the the Patriot Act was too invasive, so until we change that, we're getting what we asked for.

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  3. Anonymous1:02 PM

    Our shopping on the internet is tracked, rides on elevators observed, speed cameras record our car travel, cameras are posted all over the city, cameras are installed in banks, shoe stores, grocery stores..you name it. Big brother is watching. Most Americans have nothing to hide. A Keystone Kop should not be privy to this information, however. That is the scary part.

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  4. Anonymous1:28 PM

    In the link below, just listen to the gloating pathological reptilian inhumanity so gleefully expressed by the 20-sumptin' year old Enron traders from back in the day, and imagine these sorts of creatures with access to anyone's "data".

    ..."And to me at least the idea that there are rooms full of poorly screened, low level techs with access to our private e-mails and phone records is chilling." No shit.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-621856.html

    ".....The tapes show Enron tried to bring California to its knees.

    Elsewhere on the tapes, another employee says, "This is where California breaks."

    "Yeah, it sure does man," says another.

    And they proposed to do that by exporting energy out of the state so the company could drive up prices even more.

    "What we need to do is to help in the cause of, ah, downfall of California," an employee is heard saying on the tapes. "You guys need to pull your megawatts out of California on a daily basis."

    "They're on the ropes today," says another employee. "I exported like a f------g 400 megs."

    "Wow,'' says another employee, "f--k 'em, right!"

    Traders can be heard manipulating the market, using now-infamous schemes with names like death star, ricochet and fat boy.

    One employee is heard asking, "You want to do some fat boys or, or whatever, man, you know, take advantage of it."

    In fat boy, Enron traders used fake power sales to hide megawatts, shrinking the supply of energy and driving up prices. They also used the oldest trick in the book: lies.

    "It's called lies. It's all how well you can weave these lies together, Shari, alright, so," an employee is heard saying.

    The other employee says, "I feel like I'm being corrupted now."

    The first employee adds, "No, this is marketing,"

    Imagine what sick fucks like this can dream up to do with what they now have access to.

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    1. And they never paid for it in fines or jail time.

      California is still in recession because of how these guys fucked us over.

      Delete
  5. Beldar W. Conehead1:39 PM

    HA HA HA!!!! Read 'em weep, libruls!!!!

    Gallup poll shows MORE people view the AWESOME George W. Bush FAVORABLY than unfavorably for the first time since 2005!!! WOOOO HOOOOooooo!!!!

    IN YOUR FACE!! USA!! USA!!! WE'RE NUMBER ONE!!! SHRUB!! SHRUB!!! SHRUB!!!

    In other news, scientists announce average American IQ slips well below 100 for the first time since 2005.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Calm down, Conehead. You're having too much fun here.

      Delete
    2. Beldar J Conehead3:20 PM

      Lynne, you won't begrudge me a little fun now and then, will you?

      And, please, call me Beldar (unless you seriously doubt that it's my real name...)

      Delete
    3. Scruffer6:55 PM

      Funny. Just wait for the Shrub's first public appearance/speech/interview. That'll give everyone a reality check.

      Secondly, you quote scientists now?? Go read the ones about climate change.
      The average American IQ is changing alright - you all by yourself are living proof.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous1:40 PM

    Reminds me of this guy http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10058286/Wig-wearing-CIA-spy-in-Russia-was-investigating-Boston-bombings.html

    Where is Derek Schlessinger now? He is another one they will set up in work he is not adequately prepared to handle, he does like prostitutes though. Had Track Palin had the brain cells he would have been a candidate to be on the fast track to high paid jobs with security clearance. He is probably more likely stuck with fishing or his dad's other business.

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  7. Anonymous1:49 PM

    "And to me at least the idea that there are rooms full of poorly screened, low level techs with access to our private e-mails and phone records is chilling."

    Kinda like Facebook gone rogue, eh?

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  8. Chenagrrl2:01 PM

    so what responsibility does Booz Allen have in this? How about liability? Sounds like we tax payers were forking over the dough for experts, and Booz Allen was hiring down the food chain to save money. Uh huh!

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    1. Beldar J Conehead3:24 PM

      Remember, also, too: if the guy is making $200K in total annual comp (not bad for a high-school dropout/former security guard), BAH is most likely billing him out at $600K.

      A bargain at half the price!

      Delete
  9. Thanks for saying what the rest of us IT professionals have been saying for over a decade.

    The well qualified have been replaced by the cheap high schoolers (or worse), and the big companies that hire them think they are due bonuses for their brilliant move.

    Even this will be dismissed as an anomaly soon as even worse trained personnel will be hired to handle all the new "data" they now have to process.

    Progress!

    American style.

    Who knew signing up for Facebook was better than Verizon?

    If only.

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    1. This is what they plan to do with seasoned professional educators in our public schools. Replace them with computers, Teach for America temporary amateurs and high school grad aides.

      All to make a profit.

      Keep that in mind.

      Delete
  10. ManxMamma2:31 PM

    There is something about this whole episode that stinks to high heaven...especially the perpetrator. And anyone who believes anything about them isn't data mined in someway is ridiculously naive. I've been getting ads targeted to my browsing and buying habits for years. I don't like it. But at least I don't carry a personal tracking device like a smart phone. In fact, I don't have a phone at all. And by the way, has anyone seen what this guy leaked?

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  11. Anonymous2:41 PM

    Glad he got the job and exposed what NSA was doing.
    The government was spying on us and lying about it.

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    1. Scruffer6:58 PM

      Yep, spying on us and approved by our elected officials.
      Elect others if you don't like it.
      This guy is out for his own little agenda, not for your good.
      The true problem is indeed how many others are out there who are willing to give or SELL information. My guess? PLENTY of others. Especially for the right price.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous2:54 PM

    Here's what I think is a BIG problem this brings up.

    If this low-level bad history guy can get a job that gives him access to all this top secret info, how hard is it for terrorist groups and enemy nations to get a job like this and get access to it all?

    Plus, now they all know how easy it is and would be fools not to try to place someone into this system.

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    1. Anonymous5:06 PM

      They've been looking for terrorist groups? I'm sure I read "tourist groups" on that memo that came down here to the basement staff.

      note: When I retired from my computer job at the phone company I was replaced by 2 Filipinos.

      Delete
  13. Beldar Tahini Conehead3:08 PM

    Ya know, Gryphen, instead of whining about this NSA security leak like all the other libruls (and conservatives) out there, why not do something positive instead?

    I urge everyone to help our national security apparatus process the bazillion terabytes of electronic data our government obtains every day by participating in the crowd-sourced Espionage@Home program.

    Similar to the SETI@Home and Folding@HOME, the popular crowd sourced science programs, Espionage@Home lets the ordinary citizen analyze confidential electronic information and identify useful data for senior security analysts to examine in greater detail.

    It's fascinating work you can do at home while watching TV, doing jigsaw puzzles or re-packaging freeze-dried food for the coming apocalypse.

    Recently, I got to read the confidential files of several high profile celebrity divorces, numerous billion dollar insider trading deals and an evil plot to contaminate the $100 billion National Sesame Seed Reserve in Twisted Elbow, Tennessee.

    So, how about it, libruls? (and conservatives) Instead of complaining about the worst example of governmental security overreach since Sen. Rant Paul announced it was the worst example of governmental security overreach ever perpetrated by a negro in the Oval Office, pitch in to help!

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    1. Anonymous4:47 PM

      I think that is called gossip at the grassroots level.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:54 PM

      I want in! Beldar, can you hook me up to a work at home job where I earn lots and lots of money? I even have a college degree along with IT experience so I should be able to go management level immediately. What do you think? :)

      Delete
    3. Scruffer6:59 PM

      Hahahaha - Rant Paul.
      You nailed that one!

      Delete
  14. Anonymous3:57 PM



    Why did Edward Snowden go to Hong Kong?
    http://warisacrime.org/content/whistleblower-holding-all-cards-why-did-edward-snowden-go-hong-kong

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous4:12 PM

    This guy should spend the rest of his life in prison. And the company he works for . . . . Well, that should be out of business and certainly never allowed to get another federal contract! The people in charge should also serve some serious prison time. Obviously hiring high school drop-outs is not a great idea and obviously not explaining to the persons hired that they should not leak security information was a big mistake. Leaking is a serious matter. Too many young people do not understand that YOU DO NOT DO THESE THINGS. They do not understand anything about intellectual property and they do not seem to understand anything about national security. During WWII there were posters announcing such profound truths as "loose lips sink ships." Lives were surely saved because people cared about national security in those dark days.
    Beaglemom

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  16. Anonymous4:22 PM

    The overwhelming problem is very simple: intelligence work of any type for the Federal Government should not be farmed out to a 3rd party. Period. This work needs to be done by qualified government employees, not contractors, because government employees face prosecution with terms strictly held in accordance with US law.

    Having worked for state government for almost 20 years, contractors are NOT subject to the same rules/regulations re: employment and expectations, never mind held to the same standards, as those directly employed by government. Government contractors are "supposed" to be held to these same standards, including punishment for violations of policy and procedure, and held to the same criminal code. That doesn't happen.

    I know - my identity was part of a batch of info that was stolen and used illegally, in spite of the state contract that a) required all work to remain with the contractor's offices in the USA and b) nothing was to be farmed out to a subcontractor. Can you say "double fail"? There was a subcontractor, and it was based in India to boot. All of a sudden, charges appeared on numerous state employees' personal credit cards, new credit cards were opened in our names, money was moved out of our bank accounts and "good" credit suddenly turned "bad". This contract was for personnel services, so of course the contractor and its illegal subcontractor had everything on us that was needed to set up new identities. Names, addresses, bank info, license info...all there for the taking. The upshot? The lousy contractor still has the state contract for personnel services and was never held accountable for their failure to uphold every clause of the contract.

    Take a guess at which state this was...think Skeletor in charge now.

    PMom_GA

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  17. Anonymous4:27 PM

    He was wired in; someone wanted him from the inside. He must have been brought in as a substitute and didn't go through necessary reviews.

    Top secret protocols are important and followed. He didn't do that. He abused the system. He should have reported to his superior that the security was not in place. That's a whistleblower.

    Nobody likes being spied on. But, did anyone stop the Patriot Act? Its here and its law. And, no normal person violates an oath for Secret or Top Secret etc clearance.

    Finally, whistleblowers go through chain of command and then get a lawyer. He went to a foreign newspaper and communist country. I hope he rots and can never return. He makes me want to vomit.

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  18. Anonymous4:32 PM

    BAH is a body shop. A large chunk of it is owned by Bush's Carlyle Group. No one I know has ever been happy working there. They provide expensive bodies initially in the contract and then substitute with inexperienced people later, making less money and more profit for BAH.

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    1. Anonymous6:39 PM

      These types are a quick fix-it to do the jobs that intelligence pros don't want to do and many times refuse to do, because they know better. There's no much upside to breaking federal laws without immunity, if you're on the bottom rung of the ladder.

      If they're exposed, they can be framed as rogues, and discarded as "threats to Nat'l security", or put on psychotropic drugs to neutralize them because they're "crazy". And after a brief stint in isolation and the right chemical cocktail, they WILL BE crazy. No serious, career-minded journalist can bring all the skullduggery to light. For reasons that are obvious. I'm not referring to Alex Jones-type conspiracies and nonsense. Sometimes private security has to go on the offensive to best protect their clients, not wait until their secrets have been revealed and then play damage control.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous4:43 PM

    Nothing like the bleat from an angry young man, without house payments or other responsibilities. He is so affected because he is 29 and knows everything. More wisdom Mr. Snowden. I hope Sarah idolizes you.

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  20. Anonymous4:45 PM

    Can you imagine what Sarah would have done with all of that power? I feel for the man that rejected her or the woman he is married to.

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    1. Anonymous4:58 PM

      Gryphen, I make some of these comments with the understanding that you don't rat out anyone either.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous5:43 PM

    Someone here at IM recommended The Shadow Factory the other day, so I grabbed the paperback over the weekend and started reading it Sunday afternoon. Thanks to whoever mentioned it. If NSA/CIA/FBI are of any interest to you, it's an important book. I'll finish reading the last 50 pages tonight, and I can't wait to get started on it.

    Also, if you're unaware of the Sibel Edmonds case, you might want to do a little research to see how far these agencies will go to protect secrets from other agencies and from other branches of government. A couple of associates have confirmed that asking questions isn't permitted and that their security clearances would be affected by knowingly associating with someone who does. Neither of them are spooks nor military, but they interact with one-and two-star and full-birds, and there are watch lists that they want to avoid being added to that could be career killers.

    I got called on the carpet when I got together with these guys for a social outing this past weekend for just mentioning the book before I started reading it. BTW, being spied on is an accepted fact of life for these guys, not only on their "official" DOD phone, emails and texts, but also on any personal channels, including voice, V/M or any other "private" medium.

    Bottom line: No one in elected positions all the way to the top has full control over what goes on withing the Black Ops budget because it is so compartmentalized. But we have to relinquish some of our personal security so these agencies can watch over one another as well as the bad guys, who are often worth going on a fishing expedition for because they always have a couple of levels between them and their crimes. I consider myself a liberal libertarian, but if we don't allow our intelligence people to do this, they'll either be out spooked by the bad guys or they'll have to do it covertly and sacrifice their agents when they lose their cover. Then you don't get real professionals for those missions, only hack operators that are disposable and can be exploited or flipped.

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  22. Randall6:14 PM

    OK - according to Snowden the program started in 2006.

    SO

    IF Barack Obama had halted the program and terrorists exploded a dirty bomb in New York or LA Obama would go down in history as the dumbest president of all time.

    Also:

    A cell phone is a microwave TRANSMITTER.
    Complaining that someone is listening to your conversation on a cell phone is like whining about somebody eavesdropping in on your HAM radio broadcast.

    Also:

    EVERY congress critter that comes on the TV blustering about this "invasion of our privacy" should immediately be asked how they voted on The Patriot Act - which is what made this legal for George W. Bush then, and now, by extension, it remains legal for Barack Obama.

    REPEAL THE PATRIOT ACT

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous7:03 PM

    http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-spy-access-20130611,0,171405.story

    ...But analysts said that Snowden seems to have greatly exaggerated the amount of information available to him and people like him.

    Any NSA analyst "at any time can target anyone, any selector, anywhere," Snowden told the Guardian. "I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone from you or your accountant to a federal judge to even the president if I had a personal email."

    Robert Deitz, a former top lawyer at the NSA and CIA, called the claim a "complete and utter" falsehood.

    "First of all it's illegal," he said. "There is enormous oversight. They have keystroke auditing. There are, from time to time, cases in which some analyst is [angry] at his ex-wife and looks at the wrong thing and he is caught and fired," he said.

    NSA analysts who have the authority to query databases of metadata such as phone records — or Internet content, such as emails, videos or chat logs — are subject to stringent internal supervision and also the external oversight of the foreign surveillance court, former NSA officials said.

    "It's actually very difficult to do your job," said a former senior NSA operator, who also declined be quoted by name because of the sensitive nature of the case. "There are all these checks that don't allow you to move agilely enough."

    For example, the former operator said, he had go through an arduous process to obtain FISA court permission to gather Internet data on a foreign nuclear weapons proliferator living abroad because some of the data was passing through U.S. wires.

    "When he's saying he could just put any phone number in and look at phone calls, it just doesn't work that way," he said. " It's absurd. There are technical limits, and then there are people who review these sorts of queries."

    He added, "Let's say I have your email address. In order to get that approved, you would have to go through a number of wickets. Some technical, some human. An individual analyst can't just say, 'Oh, I found this email address or phone number.' It's not simple to do it on any level, even for purely foreign purposes."

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  24. Anonymous7:39 PM

    "... He was hired by Booz Allen Hamilton, the government contractor, which paid him $200,000 a year to work on the NSA’s computer systems. ....

    I heard just today that Booz Allen Hamilton has fired Snowden (Gee really?) but there is no indication that any of their other employees are any more trustworthy or qualified. ..."
    -------------

    Gryphen, the only thing anyone needs to know about "Booz Allen Hamilton" is that the company is now owned mostly by "The Carlyle Group."

    'nuf said.

    --GypsyGirl

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  25. If I were Snowden, with his access, skills and criminal inclinations I wouldn't be wasting my time blowing whistles. I'd be eavesdropping on hedge fund managers and Wall St. traders and using anything beyond the bare minimum of my paycheck to buy stock. Let them try to prove insider trading. In fact, given the incompetence and carelessness I doubt anyone would even suspect I was getting insider information by spying on investment bankers and the like.

    I'd be able to build a portfolio really fast, cover my tracks and retire by the time I'm 40.

    ReplyDelete

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