Did Edward Snowden Trick Co-Workers Into Giving Up Passwords?

It seems you can’t turn on news anywhere without seeing some kind of report about Edward Snowden. Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, made sparks fly when he leaked thousands of confidential NSA documents to the press in early 2013. What has not been known up to this point is how exactly Snowden got his hands on all of the classified information. If the intel at Reuters is to be believed, it may not have been as difficult for Snowden as once imagined.

Just How Easy Was It?

According to sources close to the story, there have been several of Snowden’s former co-workers in Hawaii who have been removed from their assignments because it has been proven that they gave up their passwords and/or login information to Snowden. It’s not just a couple of his co-workers, either. Reuters reports that the numbers are estimated to be between 20 and 25 other NSA employees. It goes without saying, but for employees of the National Security Agency, it sure doesn’t seem like they were being very “secure” with the passwords that kept national secrets at bay. However, all the blame may not lay on their shoulders alone.

Snowden was a systems administrator, and he could likely have told several co-workers that he needed to do some maintenance to their computers which required that he be logged onto their machines. Once he had access to all of the information behind their passwords, Snowden could theoretically have looked at anything he wanted.

Considering Snowden only worked at the Hawaii branch for approximately a month, it seems that he got down to business pretty quickly. The article goes on to say that the U.S. Government can’t be sure of everything that Snowden downloaded during his time with the NSA. Could he be holding onto even more sensitive information while he is living in asylum in Russia? It seems like that might be a strong possibility.

Hero or traitor, the media can’t get enough of Edward Snowden. What are your thoughts?

[Image via DigitalJournal]

SOURCE: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/08/net-us-usa-security-snowden-idUSBRE9A703020131108