7 ms·

The phrasing in the press release makes it sound like this is some sort of intrinsically grave offense, but it's quite possibly an innocent mistake. It sounds l

The phrasing in the press release makes it sound like this is some sort of intrinsically grave offense, but it's quite possibly an innocent mistake. It sounds like this guy's colleague switched companies from one where they were cleared to one where they were not, but they continued to communicate about classified stuff. Maybe that meant Unkenholz emailed a PDF marked TOP SECRET to his colleague in order to help some foreign entity harm US interests (obviously a terrible thing to do and worth being outraged about). But it could have also been him sending an email along the lines of "What SD cards did you order for [classified widget]? We're making more of them and I want to be sure I get all the same parts that you did for the prototype?" Both cases violate the letter of the law, but locking a human being in a cage for a decade or more over the second one seems like a horrific misinterpretation of the concept of justice. Wish the press release was clearer on what side of the line this case falls on.

35fbe7d3d5b9 5y ago
Popehat notes that this kind of reporting often oversells the likely sentence: https://www.popehat.com/2013/02/05/crime-whale-sushi-sentence-eleventy-million-years/ https://www.popehat.com/2013/02/05/crime-whale-sushi-sentenc... So it’s very possible this could end with a far less significant penalty, depending on the circumstances.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > Popehat notes that this kind of reporting often oversells the likely sentence This isn't reporting and it doesn't even purport to characterize the likely sentence except by saying “Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.”
kejaed 5y ago
It’s a little more than “letter of the law” when he’s using a personal email address for NSA work, and also sending anything classified outside of official channels. He definitely knew better.
- core-utility 5y ago
  I have no source on this, but I don't believe NSA employees have unclassified/public email addresses. It might be common to use a "personal" email for some work-related communication like this. On the subject of classification, that has no excuse.
  - andrewflnr 5y ago
    Um, no. I've definitely sent unclassified emails to @nsa.gov addresses, when I worked in government. They would be crippled if they didn't have some way to email the outside world.
- aaomidi 5y ago
  Few things in the security world: - Blaming people for accidents is stupid. Throwing them into prison for accidents is even stupider. - Proper security is designed in a way that people can make mistakes and it doesn't mean the end of the world. Him knowing better about this isn't really a response to OP's initial comment of being against a lengthy prison sentence. The prison sentence accomplishes absolutely nothing. You're just ruining a person's life as they were retiring and breaking a family apart. Makes no sense if this was indeed an accident.
  - subjectsigma 5y ago
    Your comment doesn't really make any sense. It seems to imply that the DoD rules are backwards and that it's actually the fault of the NSA that the guy leaked this. Which I don't understand. If he emailed a classified document, there is absolutely no way in hell that was an accident. You are never, ever, ever supposed to put classified information onto an unapproved system. This is like saying, "Oh, I forgot which pedal does which, so I slammed the gas instead of the brakes and killed someone, but it was an accident so I shouldn't go to jail." No, you're definitely going to jail, you 'forgetting' how to drive doesn't mean you didn't ruin someone's life. (There's a small chance that he could have wrote something classified from his brain into the body of an email and sent it. People don't get sent to jail for this, provided it's a one-time incident. If he's getting charges pressed it was pretty egregious. The term "gross negligence" comes to mind.) And it really could be that critical. Classified information is classified because it can be damaging. If you leak the names of people spying for you in foreign countries, they might be captured or even killed. How do you "design the system" to allow for that "mistake"? Finally, the prison sentence lets people know that security is serious. There are many rules and it takes effort to follow them. People get lazy and cut corners when there aren't consequences.
legalcorrection 5y ago
DOJ doesn’t prosecute “innocent” crime. Unless there’s a pressing political angle, they don’t bring prosecutions unless the wrongdoing rises to a fairly serious level. It’s not normally enough that you violate the letter of the law.

35fbe7d3d5b9 5y ago

Popehat notes that this kind of reporting often oversells the likely sentence: https://www.popehat.com/2013/02/05/crime-whale-sushi-sentence-eleventy-million-years/ https://www.popehat.com/2013/02/05/crime-whale-sushi-sentenc... So it’s very possible this could end with a far less significant penalty, depending on the circumstances.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> Popehat notes that this kind of reporting often oversells the likely sentence This isn't reporting and it doesn't even purport to characterize the likely sentence except by saying “Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.”

kejaed 5y ago

It’s a little more than “letter of the law” when he’s using a personal email address for NSA work, and also sending anything classified outside of official channels. He definitely knew better.

core-utility 5y ago
I have no source on this, but I don't believe NSA employees have unclassified/public email addresses. It might be common to use a "personal" email for some work-related communication like this. On the subject of classification, that has no excuse.
- andrewflnr 5y ago
  Um, no. I've definitely sent unclassified emails to @nsa.gov addresses, when I worked in government. They would be crippled if they didn't have some way to email the outside world.
aaomidi 5y ago
Few things in the security world: - Blaming people for accidents is stupid. Throwing them into prison for accidents is even stupider. - Proper security is designed in a way that people can make mistakes and it doesn't mean the end of the world. Him knowing better about this isn't really a response to OP's initial comment of being against a lengthy prison sentence. The prison sentence accomplishes absolutely nothing. You're just ruining a person's life as they were retiring and breaking a family apart. Makes no sense if this was indeed an accident.
- subjectsigma 5y ago
  Your comment doesn't really make any sense. It seems to imply that the DoD rules are backwards and that it's actually the fault of the NSA that the guy leaked this. Which I don't understand. If he emailed a classified document, there is absolutely no way in hell that was an accident. You are never, ever, ever supposed to put classified information onto an unapproved system. This is like saying, "Oh, I forgot which pedal does which, so I slammed the gas instead of the brakes and killed someone, but it was an accident so I shouldn't go to jail." No, you're definitely going to jail, you 'forgetting' how to drive doesn't mean you didn't ruin someone's life. (There's a small chance that he could have wrote something classified from his brain into the body of an email and sent it. People don't get sent to jail for this, provided it's a one-time incident. If he's getting charges pressed it was pretty egregious. The term "gross negligence" comes to mind.) And it really could be that critical. Classified information is classified because it can be damaging. If you leak the names of people spying for you in foreign countries, they might be captured or even killed. How do you "design the system" to allow for that "mistake"? Finally, the prison sentence lets people know that security is serious. There are many rules and it takes effort to follow them. People get lazy and cut corners when there aren't consequences.

legalcorrection 5y ago

DOJ doesn’t prosecute “innocent” crime. Unless there’s a pressing political angle, they don’t bring prosecutions unless the wrongdoing rises to a fairly serious level. It’s not normally enough that you violate the letter of the law.