Category Archives: classified information

Former NSA contractor sentenced to 9 years for theft of government info

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Former NSA contractor Harold T. Martin was sentenced Friday to 9 years in prison for his role in a massive theft of classified documents. Martin was responsible for one of the largest leaks of U.S government secrets, after it was found that the former NSA contractor possessed up to 50 terabytes of classified government documents he collected over the course of two decades. Judge Richard Bennett’s sentence falls short of the maximum number of years Martin previously face — 10 years for each of the 20 counts against him — for unauthorized and willful retention of national defense information. However, the sentence aligns with the plea agreement his public defenders reached with the U.S. government. The U.S. attorneys said his theft called for “significant” prison time, according to the government’s sentencing memorandum, which CyberScoop obtained. “The exceptionally grave nature and circumstances of the defendant’s criminal conduct call for a significant […]

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Former NSA analyst charged in leak of classified documents to reporter

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A former National Security Agency analyst has been charged and arrested for illegally obtaining classified national defense information, including files on drone warfare, and disclosing it to a reporter. The charges, which were filed originally in March of this year in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, include obtaining, retaining, transmitting, and causing the communication of national defense information, disclosure of classified communications intelligence information, and theft of government property. The Department of Justice unsealed the charges against the former analyst, Daniel Hale of Tennessee, Thursday. Some of the documents that Hale illegally obtained and shared with the reporter detailed top secret information the NSA gathered on specific named targets, several counterterrorism operations, an overseas military campaign targeting al-Qaeda, and the effects of that operation. At least one document revealed classified technical capabilities of the U.S. military. Hale served in the U.S. Air Force from 2009-13, during which he was assigned […]

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Classified data key to new acquisition approach, Federal CISO says

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The strength of a new federal acquisition council on supply-chain security lies in its ability to directly involve classified information in agencies’ decisions to buy products and services, according to a senior White House official. The new regime contrasts from previous “whack-a-mole” approaches that were confined to the unclassified space, Federal Chief Information Officer Grant Schneider said Thursday at the 2019 Security Through Innovation Summit, presented by McAfee. He chairs the nascent interagency Federal Acquisition Security Council, which was established by a law signed by President Donald Trump in December. The law allows classified information to be used to support risk assessments while assuring the intelligence community that data is protected, Schneider added. “The Binding Operational Directive on Kaspersky was completely through open-source [information],” Schneider said, referring to a 2017 federal order that, due to security concerns, banned civilian agencies from using products made by Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab. “If we […]

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Former NSA employee sentenced to 66 months for taking home classified info

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Former National Security Agency employee Nghia H. Pho was sentenced to 66 months in prison Tuesday for taking home highly classified NSA hacking tools between 2010 and 2015, some of which were later released to the public. Pho pleaded guilty in December to one count of removal and retention of national defense information. The government was seeking a sentence of 96 months. Pho appeared Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland for the sentencing. The case marks the third instance in the past three years in which a NSA employee or contractor had been charged with mishandling classified information. In October 2016, it was revealed that an NSA contractor, Harold Martin, had approximately 50 terabytes worth of classified data in his Maryland home. It was reported in January that Martin would plead guilty, but no plea has been entered. Another contractor, Reality Winner, was arrested after leaking a classified […]

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Kaspersky Lab files injunction in court, seeking to counter Trump administration ban

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Moscow-based anti-virus company Kaspersky Lab has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in U.S. federal court in hopes of halting the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to ban Kaspersky software from use in federal agencies, CyberScoop has learned. The move comes after Kaspersky Lab founder and CEO Eugene Kaspersky announced plans in December to sue the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), who originally launched the ban through a Binding Operational Directive (BOD) on Sept. 13 citing alleged espionage concerns. The motion was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal have all reported in recent months, citing anonymous U.S. intelligence officials, that Russian intelligence agencies have in the past leveraged Kaspersky Lab’s anti-virus engine to remotely steal confidential documents from targeted computers where the software is already installed. Kaspersky Lab has repeatedly and unequivocally denied all wrongdoing. The company continues […]

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