Exclusive: How a Russian firm helped catch an alleged NSA data thief

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/09/russia-kaspersky-lab-nsa-cybersecurity-1089131

By Kim Zetter
POLITICO
01/09/2019

The 2016 arrest of a former National Security Agency contractor charged with a 
massive theft of classified data began with an unlikely source: a tip from a 
Russian cybersecurity firm that the U.S. government has called a threat to the 
country.

Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab turned Harold T. Martin III in to the NSA after 
receiving strange Twitter messages in 2016 from an account linked to him, 
according to two people with knowledge of the investigation. They spoke with 
POLITICO on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to discuss 
the case.

The company's role in exposing Martin is a remarkable twist in an increasingly 
bizarre case that is believed to be the largest breach of classified material 
in U.S. history.

It indicates that the government's own internal monitoring systems and 
investigators had little to do with catching Martin, who prosecutors say took 
home an estimated 50 terabytes of data from the NSA and other government 
offices over a two-decade period, including some of the NSA's most 
sophisticated and sensitive hacking tools.

The revelation also introduces an ironic turn in the negative narrative the 
U.S. government has woven about the Russian company in recent years.

[...]



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