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posted by n1 on Wednesday June 07 2017, @05:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the bucket-full-of-holes dept.

Barely an hour after a news organization published an article about a Top Secret National Security Agency document on Russian hacking, the Justice Department announced charges against a 25-year-old government contractor who a senior federal official says was the leaker of the document.

The May 5, 2017 intelligence document published by The Intercept, an online news organization, describes new details about Russian efforts to hack voting systems in the U.S a week prior to the 2016 presidential election. While the document doesn't say the hacking changed any votes, it "raises the possibility that Russian hacking may have breached at least some elements of the voting system, with disconcertingly uncertain results."

Even as the document was ricocheting around Washington, the Justice Department announced that a criminal complaint was filed in the Southern District of Georgia charging Reality Leigh Winner, 25, a federal contractor, with removing classified material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet.

Source: NBC News

Once investigative efforts identified Winner as a suspect, the FBI obtained and executed a search warrant at her residence. According to the complaint, Winner agreed to talk with agents during the execution of the warrant. During that conversation, Winner admitted intentionally identifying and printing the classified intelligence reporting at issue despite not having a "need to know," and with knowledge that the intelligence reporting was classified. Winner further admitted removing the classified intelligence reporting from her office space, retaining it, and mailing it from Augusta, Georgia, to the news outlet, which she knew was not authorized to receive or possess the documents.

Source: Department of Justice

While the document provides a rare window into the NSA's understanding of the mechanics of Russian hacking, it does not show the underlying "raw" intelligence on which the analysis is based. A U.S. intelligence officer who declined to be identified cautioned against drawing too big a conclusion from the document because a single analysis is not necessarily definitive.

Source: The Intercept

How The Intercept Outed Reality Winner

Julian Assange: Alleged NSA leaker 'must be supported'

Bad tradecraft: How the Intercept may have outed its own leaker

WikiLeaks tweet #1: "Suspected Intercept reporter gave US government NSA whistleblower Reality Leigh Winner's post code, printout and her report number" and tweet #2: "WikiLeaks issues a US$10,000 reward for information leading to the public exposure & termination of this 'reporter'".


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

 
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday June 07 2017, @11:28AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday June 07 2017, @11:28AM (#521842) Journal

    they're also getting to imply The Intercept, one of the few remaining reputable independent media outlets, was somehow at fault for this leaker's complete lack of any security precautions whatsoever.

    https://theintercept.com/2017/06/06/statement-on-justice-department-allegations/ [theintercept.com]

    Here's a funny thing. If The Intercept defends itself and details the leaker's "complete lack of any security precautions", they risk adding to the evidence against the leaker. No wonder they have "no further comment". It's a PR lose-lose situation for The Intercept.

    You have offered a good defense of The Intercept. WikiLeaks will continue to shit on The Intercept [thedailybeast.com] because it could direct exclusive leaks away from First Look/The Intercept and to WikiLeaks instead. More leaks means more donations and Bitcoins.

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