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5 Years on, US Government Still Counting Snowden Leak Costs (apnews.com)
National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden blew the lid off U.S. government surveillance methods five years ago, but intelligence chiefs complain that revelations from the trove of classified documents he disclosed are still trickling out. From a report: That includes recent reporting on a mass surveillance program run by close U.S. ally Japan and on how the NSA targeted bitcoin users to gather intelligence to combat narcotics and money laundering. The Intercept, an investigative publication with access to Snowden documents, published stories on both subjects. The top U.S. counterintelligence official said journalists have released only about 1 percent taken by the 34-year-old American, now living in exile in Russia, "so we don't see this issue ending anytime soon." "This past year, we had more international, Snowden-related documents and breaches than ever," Bill Evanina, who directs the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said at a recent conference. "Since 2013, when Snowden left, there have been thousands of articles around the world with really sensitive stuff that's been leaked."
I'm happy to hear they're still facing consequences, even if those consequences aren't nearly severe enough to make me content.
in the history of the United States and Cop Math is still a thing.
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The government isn't really doing anything to prevent a Snowden 2.0 either. They're still after prosecuting him, which means the next Snowden will also flee overseas and leak to the media. There isn't really a "legal" way for someone like Snowden to report government abuses; the only alternative is through the media.
I've not seen the government make any steps to prevent the next Snowden from following the same steps Snowden made.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
On my tiny violin.
Wouldn't it be cheaper to, you know, not rely on extraordinary rendition, illegal spying, extra-constitutional structurally biased special courts, intra-agency webs of secrecy, and all that?
This seems more than a bit like "If it weren't for those darn meddling kids, everything would have been fine, JUST FINE," then complaining how expensive that now-ruined mask on the floor was.
Ryan Fenton
Uncovering the truth and doing "The Right Thing".
With all the revelations, the main takeaway I got is the NSA is pissed that they got caught acting poorly. Given their lack of apology, it's clear the NSA isn't at all motivated to, you know - change, and stuff. All the NSA seems to want to do is deliver maximum stitches to maximum snitches.
I sleep better.
The fact that the U.S. government continue to persecute this whistle-blower is much more damning than the things he revealed.
IMO Snowden should be pardoned & given a medal.
Instead, he's landed a cushy job at CNN.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
...and it becomes more and more clear how paranoid they are and how they view the world as an enemy.
You can't tell that by Donny starting a trade war with our allies?
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
It is claimed that this is largely a myth and debunked. It is though I will admit... strange that the day after Rumsfeld complains about the not properly tracked money...
"""The technology revolution has transformed organizations across the private sector, but not ours, not fully, not yet. We are, as they say, tangled in our anchor chain. Our financial systems are decades old. According to some estimates, we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions. We cannot share information from floor to floor in this building because it's stored on dozens of technological systems that are inaccessible or incompatible. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. Monday September 10th, 2001"""
The documentation of the COSMOS wiring database was the bigger issue in that case, IIRC. Same basic deal, though, got it through dumpster diving, could have been bought officially for a few bucks. That database lets you do the really fun stuff like assign lines to accounts. OTOH using it is pretty much its own punishment (e.g. working out the 3 letter wire-center code from the exchange key = 1st 3 of 7 digit phone #) and in later years the official documentation was basically nonexistent (oral tradition and a few 5th generation photocopies on cubicle walls, basically).
-ex-BS MMT
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" - Patrick Henry