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NSA really should have had better internal controls in place for decades, if this leak is anything to go by. They got lucky, nothing more, that Snowden is a co
by mpyne 13y ago
NSA really should have had better internal controls in place for decades, if this leak is anything to go by.
They got lucky, nothing more, that Snowden is a concerned citizen and not an actual spy. No single person should be able to do what Snowden did even if you assume all NSA analysts are 100% comfortable with the mission.
In nuclear weapons two-person concept is a huge, huge, huge deal. NSA's stuff might not be to the exact same level of seriousness but at the same time "TOP SECRET" implies grave risk to national security if leaked and their internal controls should have been equal to the risk implied by that.
- jpatokal 13y agoNot really -- there are 1.4 million people in the US with "TOP SECRET" clearance, which means that most stuff flagged as such is far from it. http://au.businessinsider.com/edward-snowden-top-secret-clearance-nsa-whistleblower-2013-6 http://au.businessinsider.com/edward-snowden-top-secret-clea...
- mpyne 13y agoClearance does not equate to access, or with "need to know". It simply means someone has been screened to a certain degree of trustworthiness to properly handle classified material.
- FreakLegion 13y agoTS/SCI is relatively common because it doesn't give you access to much. It just means you've been vetted. Actual secrets are still organized by code word, and you can only access them if you're explicitly read in (i.e. given "code word clearance"). Some more details: http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/clearance_fever/ http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/clearance_fever/
- Daniel_Newby 13y agoIndeed. They need to come up with some sort of criteria for evaluating trusted computer systems.
- a3n 13y ago"They got lucky, nothing more, that Snowden is a concerned citizen and not an actual spy." Actually Snowden may have been the NSA's lucky break. Doesn't it seem likely that there are poeple selling secrets to enemies within NSA/Booz Hamilton? This forces them to deal with a system that probably makes that relatively easy. Cherish your bugs.