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jimnyc
10-05-2016, 09:22 PM
Here we go again! revelarts - I thought you might be interested if you haven't seen this story already.

I wonder how bad this will turn out to be?

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NSA contractor accused of taking classified information

WASHINGTON (AP) — A contractor for the National Security Agency has been arrested on charges that he illegally removed highly classified information and stored the material in his home and car, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Harold Thomas Martin III, 51, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, was arrested by the FBI in August after he admitted to having taken government secrets, authorities said. A defense attorney said Martin did not intend to betray his country.

The arrest was not made public until Wednesday, when the Justice Department unsealed a criminal complaint that accused Martin of having been in possession of top-secret information that could cause "exceptionally grave danger" to national security if disclosed.

Among the classified documents found with Martin, the FBI said, were six that contain sensitive intelligence — meaning they were produced through sensitive government sources or methods that are critical to national security — and date back to 2014. All the documents were clearly marked as classified information, according to a FBI affidavit accompanying the complaint.

The complaint does not specify what documents Martin is alleged to have taken. He was arrested around the same time U.S. officials acknowledged an investigation into a cyber leak of purported hacking tools used by the NSA. That tool kit consists of malicious software intended to tamper with firewalls, the electronic defenses protecting computer networks. Those documents were leaked by a group calling itself the "Shadow Brokers." The complaint does not reference that group or allege a link to Martin.

The arrest could turn into another embarrassment for the U.S. intelligence community. It would be the second known case since 2013 of a government contractor being publicly accused of removing secret data from the NSA, which monitors and collects sensitive information and data, mostly from overseas.

At the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama takes the situation "quite seriously. And it is a good reminder for all of us with security clearances about how important it is for us to protect sensitive national security information."

Rest here - http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/nsa-contractor-accused-taking-classified-information

Elessar
10-05-2016, 09:25 PM
Here we go again!

I've preached on this issue until my eyes bleed.

Fry his ass!

sundaydriver
10-06-2016, 04:48 AM
For a number of years now our Intelligence services have been made up of about 1/3 contractors. Time to fix that!

Tyr-Ziu Saxnot
10-06-2016, 06:51 AM
Here we go again!

I've preached on this issue until my eyes bleed.

Fry his ass!

"What difference does it make"? Ask Hillary--she did far, far worse and we are told she did-nothing-- wrong...
Love that quote about how the obama takes this kind of thing very seriously .. :laugh:
So seriously that he ordered his Justice Department not to prosecute Hillary.--Tyr

revelarts
10-06-2016, 08:22 AM
For a number of years now our Intelligence services have been made up of about 1/3 contractors. Time to fix that!
Yep.
And "Homeland security" has grown so bloated with people that you could never realistically track all the hands that have access from the inside.

According the the 2010 report "top secret america" (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/) there are
'Hundreds of Gov't Intel agencies.... which contract out to over 2000 Private companies.... and 280,000+ people have 'top secret' security status."

Seems to me that's too many people to keep track of. ...whose's going to spy on the spies?
But it also occurs to me that that most of those people have computers at the office and i'm sure some laptops and various PDAs and phones .
And all of those need both hardware and software maintenance. So that's a whole different set of people with potential access to "classified" info.
Also who writes the code for the spy wear? and the data storage software code? That's before you even get to careless or corrupt contractors.

Cyber security is a nightmare.
Even when the gov't is doing legit intel operations.
Let alone illegally spying on innocent private citizens, protesters, congress people, supreme court justices, governors, city mayors etc etc etc ..

aboutime
10-06-2016, 06:41 PM
Think about it everyone. IF this person is actually guilty of taking classified information. United States Top Security information.

Shouldn't Hillary get the same treatment, indictment, and taken off the streets until a COURT takes place in their behalf????

Elessar
10-06-2016, 06:46 PM
Think about it everyone. IF this person is actually guilty of taking classified information. United States Top Security information.

Shouldn't Hillary get the same treatment, indictment, and taken off the streets until a COURT takes place in their behalf????


Beyond a doubt!

But she is immune according to the present mis-administration.

By the way, contractors can be held liable as well.