Snowden, NSA, and Counterintelligence

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://20committee.com/2013/09/04/snowden-nsa-and-counterintelligence/

By John R. Schindler
The XX Committee
September 4, 2013

Ever since the remarkable case of Edward Snowden broke into the limelight at 
the beginning of the summer that’s now winding down, I’ve had a great deal to 
say about it here, on Twitter, and on radio and television. As one of the very 
few former NSA officers who’s in the public eye and willing to talk about 
Snowden, I’ve had an audience. As a former NSA counterintelligence officer with 
experience dealing with the Russians, I’ve been pretty much a solo act.

 From nearly the outset I’ve stated that Snowden is very likely an agent of 
Russian intelligence; this was met with howls of indignation which have died 
down in recent weeks as it’s become apparent that Ed’s staying in Russia for 
some time, along with whatever classified materials he had on his person. 
(Since Glenn Greenwald’s partner when stopped by British authorities at 
Heathrow had 58,000 highly classified documents on him, thanks to Ed, one can 
only wonder how big the initial haul actually was.) That Snowden was in contact 
with the Russian consulate in Hong Kong during his pre-Moscow visit there, 
including spending his 30th birthday with his new friends, is now admitted. 
Even President Vladimir Putin has conceded that Ed’s contacts with Russian 
officials did not commence when he landed at Sheremtyevo airport, rather 
before.

But when? That of course is the key question that NSA counterintelligence 
surely wants – needs – to know. All roads here lead to Wikileaks. We know that 
Snowden in late 2012 reached out to Glenn Greenwald and other members of the 
spy-ring – all of whom can be considered cut-outs for Wikileaks when not 
paid-up members – that stands behind the massive leaks. After making this 
contact, Ed took a contractor job with Booz Allen Hamilton to increase his 
access to NSA secrets. I’ve been stating for a while now that Wikileaks is 
functionally an extension of Russian intelligence; it’s become a minor meme as 
a few journalists have decided that such a scandalous viewpoint is worth 
considering.

Of course, for anyone versed in the ways of Russian intelligence, the notion 
that Wikileaks is a Moscow front that’s involved in anti-US espionage is about 
as controversial as, say, the notion that the sun will rise in the east 
tomorrow. Running false flags, creating fake activist groups, using Western 
journalists and activists for deception purposes – this sort of thing is in the 
DNA of Russian intelligence going back to the 19th century and is second nature 
to them. They call espionage tradecraft konspiratsiya (conspiracy) for a 
reason.

[...]

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