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Tuesday, 28 January 2014
Snowden claims NSA collects economic intelligence as well
There is “no doubt” the US engages in industrial espionage, Edward Snowden said in an interview in which he also asserted that he worked alone in disclosing mass surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA).
Snowden claims NSA collects economic intelligence as well
Bloomberg, Reuters 27 January 2014
There is “no doubt” the US engages in industrial espionage, Edward Snowden said in an interview in which he also asserted that he worked alone in disclosing mass surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA).
The former US government contractor, now a fugitive in Russia, told a German television station that if a company such as Germany’s Siemens AG were found to have information useful to the US government, the NSA would use it, he said.
Mr Snowden dismissed accusations from members of Congress that he acted as a foreign agent. “I worked alone; I didn’t need anybody’s help,” he said in the interview with German broadcaster ARD. He said the wealth of data he took is now in the hands of journalists and that the US public benefited from knowing what the government was doing.
“If I’m a traitor, who did I betray?” he asked.
Mr Snowden, 30, faces charges of theft and espionage and is in Russia on temporary asylum. US Attorney-General Eric Holder said last week that if Mr Snowden wanted to return to the US and plead guilty, prosecutors would be willing to negotiate.
US legislators including Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, have suggested that Mr Snowden had outside help to lay bare the workings of US intelligence.
Mr Snowden said his disclosure of the NSA surveillance was “the right thing to do” and that he meant to raise awareness about US authorities who “create systems that see everything”.
In another development, Altegrity Inc - which owns the provider of background checks for the US government that vetted Mr Snowden - has revived talks to sell its unit that screens private-sector employees, two people familiar with the matter said.
Ares Management LLC, one of the private equity firms that held talks with Altegrity last year about a deal, has resumed discussions recently about the possibility of acquiring the unit, which is called HireRight, the people said.
Altegrity, owned by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners LLC, was originally seeking as much as US$1 billion for HireRight, people familiar with the matter told Reuters last July.
One of the people said Altegrity was expected to have lower price expectations this time because its finances are under increasing pressure, partly due to federal budget cuts that have hit its government employee and contractor screening unit USIS.
It is uncertain whether an agreement can be reached, and it could not be learned whether Altegrity was in discussions with other parties over the sale of HireRight.
Altegrity’s latest efforts to sell HireRight come as USIS is being accused by the US Justice Department of having filed at least 665,000 flawed background checks between March 2008 and September 2012.
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Snowden claims NSA collects economic intelligence as well
Bloomberg, Reuters
27 January 2014
There is “no doubt” the US engages in industrial espionage, Edward Snowden said in an interview in which he also asserted that he worked alone in disclosing mass surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA).
The former US government contractor, now a fugitive in Russia, told a German television station that if a company such as Germany’s Siemens AG were found to have information useful to the US government, the NSA would use it, he said.
Mr Snowden dismissed accusations from members of Congress that he acted as a foreign agent. “I worked alone; I didn’t need anybody’s help,” he said in the interview with German broadcaster ARD. He said the wealth of data he took is now in the hands of journalists and that the US public benefited from knowing what the government was doing.
“If I’m a traitor, who did I betray?” he asked.
Mr Snowden, 30, faces charges of theft and espionage and is in Russia on temporary asylum. US Attorney-General Eric Holder said last week that if Mr Snowden wanted to return to the US and plead guilty, prosecutors would be willing to negotiate.
US legislators including Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, have suggested that Mr Snowden had outside help to lay bare the workings of US intelligence.
Mr Snowden said his disclosure of the NSA surveillance was “the right thing to do” and that he meant to raise awareness about US authorities who “create systems that see everything”.
In another development, Altegrity Inc - which owns the provider of background checks for the US government that vetted Mr Snowden - has revived talks to sell its unit that screens private-sector employees, two people familiar with the matter said.
Ares Management LLC, one of the private equity firms that held talks with Altegrity last year about a deal, has resumed discussions recently about the possibility of acquiring the unit, which is called HireRight, the people said.
Altegrity, owned by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners LLC, was originally seeking as much as US$1 billion for HireRight, people familiar with the matter told Reuters last July.
One of the people said Altegrity was expected to have lower price expectations this time because its finances are under increasing pressure, partly due to federal budget cuts that have hit its government employee and contractor screening unit USIS.
It is uncertain whether an agreement can be reached, and it could not be learned whether Altegrity was in discussions with other parties over the sale of HireRight.
Altegrity’s latest efforts to sell HireRight come as USIS is being accused by the US Justice Department of having filed at least 665,000 flawed background checks between March 2008 and September 2012.
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