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In Massive Breach, Ex-NSA Contractor Pleads Guilty to Hoarding Highly Classified Secrets (usatoday.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the insecure-facilities dept.

"A former National Security Agency contractor on Thursday pleaded guilty to stealing secret defense information over two decades in what legal experts have described as the biggest breach of classified information in U.S. history."

Long-time Slashdot reader mencik quotes USA Today: In his plea deal in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Harold Thomas Martin III admitted to removing highly classified digital and hard copy documents, then storing them in his home and car from the late 1990s through 2016. Prosecutors say there is no indication Martin ever shared the stolen secrets. His defense attorneys say he simply hoarded the information... One of his lawyers previously described Martin as a "compulsive hoarder" who took home work documents...

Martin, who held multiple security clearances while working at government agencies as a private contractor, said he knew stealing the documents risked the country's security. He pleaded guilty on Thursday to one felony count of willful retention of national defense information. He could be sentenced to nine years in prison.
Martin also told a federal judge that he'd been diagnosed with ADHD. "His actions were the product of mental illness," his federal defenders' statement said. "Not treason."

8 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. We need FBI back on clearance duty by WindBourne · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seriously, we need to drop all of these idiotic private companies doing clearance duty. We are getting far too many ppl that do not belong.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    1. Re:We need FBI back on clearance duty by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Funny

      Seriously, we need to drop all of these idiotic private companies doing clearance duty. We are getting far too many ppl that do not belong.

      Absolutely! The next thing you know, they'll be letting in idiots that won't even type out entire words! -_-

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    2. Re:We need FBI back on clearance duty by Nivag064 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Seriously, we need to drop all of these idiotic private companies doing clearance duty. We are getting far too many ppl that do not belong.

      Absolutely! The next thing you know, they'll be letting in idiots that won't even type out entire words! -_-

      Far worse, they may even elect a president, who has extreme difficulty typing a coherent sentence, and are proud of their ignorance!

  2. Not a crime by tomhath · · Score: 4, Funny

    He was just extremely careless. His record should be fully expunged.

    1. Re:Not a crime by BlueStrat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Taking home over 50TB of classified information is not careless. That's criminal.

      He was extremely careless but there was no ill intent, no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.

      Oh wait, he's not a corrupt and wealthy dynastic politician?

      Throw him under the toughest PMITA prison!

      After all, some animals are more equal than others.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    2. Re:Not a crime by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Don't know if I'd go along with the defense reasoning that his actions are the result of a mental illness, but if they can't prove that he intended to share any of the information at any point, then charges of treason shouldn't stick either.

      However I can well imagine that willfully mishandling classified information (taking it home when you have no authority to do so) constitutes a crime under US law. Merely having classified info in your possession when you shouldn't certainly is a crime in my own country.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  3. What about OUR data? by oic0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Isn't this the same thing they tell us they do with our data? they just collect it all, but outside of official work against terrorists and stuff, they are just holding it and doing nothing with it right?

  4. Being negligent (not careful) with it is a crime by raymorris · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In the US, it is a crime to negligently allow it to leave the proper secured systems. Negligent means "not being careful". One recent example of someone who was prosecuted is a Navy sailor who sent home a selfie - aboard ship. The interior of US Navy ships are classified.

    A manager who carries papers around in a briefcase could be prosecuted for accidentally leaving a classified document in their briefcase and taking it home. With the security clearance comes a legal duty to be careful - to check that all of the classified documents are removed before taking a briefcase home.