Slashdot Mirror
Ex-NSA Employee Gets 5 Years In Prison For Taking Home Top Secret Files (cnet.com)
Former NSA employee Nghia Hoang Pho, 64, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for taking top secret U.S. defense files to his home. Pho pleaded guilty in December to willful retention of national defense information, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement. The maximum sentence for this crime is 10 years, but prosecutors were recommending a sentence of eight years. CNET reports: Pho, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Vietnam, worked in the NSA's Tailored Access Group, the agency's team that focuses on tools that can directly hack surveillance targets. Between 2010 and March 2015, Pho took home paper and digital copies of U.S. government documents and writings that contained national defense information on them, the Justice Department said. Pho reportedly had antivirus software from Kaspersky Lab on his home computer network and the software scooped up the top secret information as part of its virus scanning process. Kaspersky has acknowledged that its software lifted hacking tools from a home computer in 2014 but said it wasn't part of an intentional effort to steal information from the NSA. Pho said in court he took the materials home so he could put in more work to earn a promotion, according to CBS Baltimore.
In this case it looks like bringing work home did in fact affect his work life balance.
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
...another rule for Hilary.
he had kapersky on his computer and when that got out they traced it back to him..hey at least NSA doesnt do ageism..he was in his 60s and still working and going for a promotion
Basically the kaspersky anti-virus tool picked up on hacking software by it's coding signature. Strings of code, designed to hack other computers, it is recognisable when you do scans, especially when you do https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... ie sound likes, looks like, hacking code.
Now as it turns out when you scan for virusy like code, whether it is the tool to apply the code or the applied code itself, well, it's going to contain the same hacking code, be identified and been contained and a copy sent back for further analysis if you allow it. SO the twisty swervy version of that, ohh ahh, the Russians stole information (no the sent a copy of the code, containing hacking heuristics for further analysis, as the user agreed to when they installed the product).
The main reason the US government wants to ban kaspersky, it is the intention of the US government to back door all security software and obviously they will not be able to do that to a Russian program. Still not as bad as the wobbly told be the fellow claiming he took it home to do extra work on it, that near retirement, it was taken home to fund retirement in various non legal ways.
I will at least take the fellows recommendation for the use of Kaspersky software, why because clearly the NSA hates it, makes life all together too difficult for them. They much prefer software with individually identified security upgrades so they know exactly the user getting the security upgrade, to ensure they get a downgrade instead, instead of a lock and wide open back door but I suppose it's still better to allow those third grade anal retentive tech types to hack your computer to spy on nothing rather than have them kicking your front and back doors down, accidentally repeatedly shooting you and stealing your computers.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
There IMHO some important facts missing in the description:
a) He did not have a Office license, so he downloaded a key generator.
b) The Kaspersky software would not let him run that generator because it considered it harmful
c) He disabled Kaspersky, ran the key generator and got his PC infected
d) He re-enabled Kaspersky, the software detected an infection and began looking for malicious files
e) The software found the NSA written malware and did exactly what it was supposed to do: it was configured to upload new suspicious files to Kaspersky.
f) The upload server was under surveillance by the Israeli secret service.
Pho said in court he took the materials home so he could put in more work to earn a promotion
He went from an NSA employee to a convicted felon. That's a promotion in status in my eyes.
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
Kaspersky has acknowledged that its software lifted hacking tools from a home computer in 2014 but said it wasn't part of an intentional effort to steal information from the NSA
just a lucky break for the Russians then....
" Pho said in court he took the materials home so he could put in more work to earn a promotion" likely story - communist bastard!
Yah. Perverse work morale.
I do feel sorry for this guy. OTOH, I hope he learns the lesson: If you kill yourself at work, your boss won't give a shit. If you don't kill yourself at work, (s)he won't, eiter. What to do?
Kill your boss, of course.
Oooh, look its the but Hillary brigade, still so butt hurt, especially after the disaster Trump is becoming. The rest of the world just laughed in his face at the UN. Sad.
And funny, very very funny.
Oooh, look its the but Hillary brigade, still so butt hurt, especially after the disaster Trump is becoming. The rest of the world just laughed in his face at the UN. Sad.
And funny, very very funny.
The UN? Isn't that the place that puts countries like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan on its "Human Rights Council"?
Getting laughed at by such a clown gathering is a badge of honor.
Kristian Saucier took pictures of a sub to show his kids. Jail time.
Nghia Hoang Pho took documents home to work on. Jail time.
More classified documents keep coming to light that Hillary had on a non-secure server. No Jail time.
Did I miss anyone?
The rest of the world just laughed in his face at the UN
Sure they did buttercup.
NEVER TAKE WORK HOME!
And nobody was interested if his name is pronounced Fa?
The lack of any apparent controls at the NSA regarding removing classified information should cause some serious investigations of the agency and it's processes.
Should of claimed Hillary Clinton status, nuff said.
I thought that No Reasonable Prosecutor Would Bring That Case?
"There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation.
"To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now.
Not in the case of Asians.
Slant eyes, Epicanthic fold, yellow skin == work yourself to death genius. More productivity than white people.
Prejudice works both ways.
HTF did an ex-enemy slantt get that hi-sevcurity job? Like hiring Juuu-Kommiz after WW2 into the State Department. What Rawlsian Trotsky Congress-critter pimped him in? When Sotero-esque civil-servant got the blojob for passing him thru ?? WTF .....
Not being a General mishandling document to his mistress. Being a peon, a plebeian, is hard. Fair!
Hint: google Petraeus.
Then they'd totally cover the whole thing up because, goddamnit, it's her turn to Pokemon GO! to the polls!
Furthermore, having had a family member in tech, I can tell you that this happened frequently on all but the most hush hush projects. It was tacitly allowed by management so long as your code was never leaked. But as soon as a leak happened, it was the hardworking employee, not the manager who got fired, while making the manager's productivity numbers look much better than they were within actual working hours.
Having said that, I would be curious to know what Pho's salary was that he didn't have an Office license, didn't have a company laptop to work off, and was allowed both into and out of the office with either removable media or his personal computer. Honestly while this guy might deserve those 5 years, I think a couple other members of staff deserve a shot to the head instead, after a very public and very humiliating trial and followup walk of shame.
He should have put them in the basement.
I seem to recall something about Hillary Clinton having a private server full of classified and top secret stuff. One that got hacked even.
Wonder why she didn't face charges.
and yet Hilary Clinton gets nothing for her doing the same. Wakeup people, we have two different sets of laws, one for us, the little people, and one for our Lords and Ladies. Just like insider trading is illegal for you and I, but our elected officials are only requested to let us know when they do it!
"Governments have been dominated by the corporate entities and citizens have ceased to matter in public policy" true in
were you not aware that ALL countries do this?
"Governments have been dominated by the corporate entities and citizens have ceased to matter in public policy" true in
Lock her up!
Such a double standard. And there is some evidence that the Chinese were receiving copies of her e-mails in real time.
She also had top secret information in her home on an unsecured computer.
Is her security clearance revoked?
The UN? Isn't that the place that puts countries like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan on its "Human Rights Council"?
Getting laughed at by such a clown gathering is a badge of honor.
How to justify all the world's leaders laughing at your leader. If it's such a clown gathering why would he even show up? I guess I just answered my own question.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
I'm glad to see that the NSA is hiring "the best and the brightest" when it comes to computer security!
Awful lot of words just to say...use Linux.
I didn't vote for Trump, but I like him more and more.
The UN may be a disreputable organization composed of mostly disreputable nations, but like it or not, we have to deal with the rest of the world, unpleasant as that may be.
Trump being a disaster doesn't change the fact that Hillary got off scot-free for this.
The world already does, people like you are just too naive to recognize it.
Good advice. And that includes being selective about who the US lets immigrate.
Yeah, he should have downloaded a cracked copy of Office from piratebay like everyone else. The only place one can trust.
"If it's such a clown gathering why would he even show up?"
Ah, but the worldwide audience. That's why.
No, not the privileged, the righteous, the ones who know better than you and the rest of the 43%. Sadly, many of those who needed to hear his address won;t be able to, for their leaders will not permit it.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Actually, you missed Huma and Anthony. And Lois, Loretta, Eric, Sally, John (Longface), Samantha, and Barack.
I'm certain I missed several.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Not ALL countries do this.
Just the ones who can.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Where is Hillary's prison term? She took home and disseminated 1000s of sensitive documents. Little guy - you go to jail. Clintion - you run for president
To think that this could have been avoided had he just stored the sensitive information on a toilet-server... oh and be a member of the political elite.
I totally agree, Hillary got off scot free... I don't agree that Trump is a disaster, but let's not quibble about that as it has nothing to do with this idea that there is a double standard at play.
IF this guy got 8 years and a felony conviction, Hillary should have at least been reprimanded and her security clearance pulled. But as it is, crickets.... Comey got her off the hook, and he did it for political reasons, outside the standard processes of the Justice department none-the-less. Hillary getting off is a huge con game and I don't think we've actually found out how deep and depraved it goes yet. This whole episode is centered around the last election and it smells of a cover-up with illegal use of wire tapping for political purposes and letting one party's candidate skate on serious issues. The stench has permeated the DNC, the Clinton Campaign, The Clinton Foundation, The DOJ and the intelligence services and we've only scratched the surface finding the rotting fish.
Well, he can always get a pardon from Trump. He just have to become a rapist first, Trump only pardons rapists.
Trump Pardons:
Dwight and Steven Hammond - Both where convicted of Arson.
Alice Marie Johnson - non-violent drug offenses.
Dinesh D'Souza - Campaign finance violations.
Jack Johnson - posthumous, Mann Act Violations
Lewis "Scooter" Libby - Lying to the FBI.
Kristian Saucier - For taking photos of classified equipment.
Sholom Rubashkin - Bank Fraud, commuted sentence, conviction remains.
Joe Arpaio - Civil rights violations, as Sherriff.
I'm not seeing even one rapist here.. Did I miss somebody?
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
I agree on many of your points, but Hillary did not get off scot free. She didn't get the job of POTUS. If there were no bathroom server scandal, I think she would have won a few more states and the election.
The UN may be a disreputable organization composed of mostly disreputable nations, but like it or not, we have to deal with the rest of the world, unpleasant as that may be.
Yeah, it's just now the rest of the world is laughing at you.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
I'm sure they didn't need to hear him brag about how great he is and how america is awesome thanks to him and him alone. All those people who don't have access to the internet or a tv don't really give a shit about how great trump thinks he is.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
And what the Chinese didn't get from Hillary's e-mails, Dianne Feinstein made sure and passed along via her spy-as-driver...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Interestingly, it has only ever been suspected AND proven that America does it. And not just recently, but for decades. They are by far the worst of whatever sick bunch they are in. Everything OP wrote makes sense.
Really? Home of, "down with copyright" and "you all making too much so I shouldn't pay you". What kind of dishonesty could arise from that?
"Now"? You are a bit unfamiliar with history, it seems. Politicians and intellectuals in the rest of the world have been laughing at the US since it was founded. It's not something Americans care about or should care about. Ordinary people (like myself) have voted with our feet.
The fact that Hillary got away with much more shows the 2 different types of justice we have in this country.
Being POTUS is a privilege and a duty--not something she was "owed" just for showing up. Not getting the job hardly seems like a penalty.
Say you set up a private email server at your home to get classified government emails and other material. What kind of sentence is that going to get you?
Seriously. He KNEW you do not take classified items out of SCIF rooms . In addition, he KNEW that Kaspersky anti-virus was absolutely sending data back to Russia, so he was NOT supposed to use that.
Chances are, that he simply did what he said. Problem is, that he knew it was criminal to do that.
We know you cant stop thinkong about Donalds old flacid cock ans his drlicious warm piss. Yould give anything to drink from that cock, even everyone else's freedom.
COCKSUCKER.
Do you know how much money her handlers spent?
How much do you figure each of the other, possibly electable, Ds took to bow out?
How much do you figure each of the other Rs took to bow out or get 'put out' (to get her chosen opponent)?
She wasn't 'owed the job', but her owners had fucking well paid for it. You know they are PISSED.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
So mich she had three accounts, but when they got "hacked" by using the account recovery questions all of a sudden she only had one and it was thise ebil democrats!!
Nuke America. Its the only way to be sure.
Check your asian privilege.
History will judge you all a cuntry of pussygrabbin morans.
NOFORN is NOT a classification, it is a CAVEAT, and as such it can be used to modify classification categories, NOFORN is normally only used with Secret and Top Secret.
The Classification categories are:
Unclassified
Confidential
Secret
Top Secret
Other markings are considered CAVEATs.
Oooh, look its a conga line of lying right wing assholes. No convictions, no credible evidence, just the ranting of nutjobs. The low IQ of the right writ large.
Can you show us on this doll where Hillary hurt you princesses?
Anything to distract from the Trump disaster eh?
Enjoy your mid term thrashing children.