Fbi Arrests Nsa Contractor For Leaking Secrets – Here's How They Caught Her

The FBI arrested a 25-year-old NSA contractor on Sabbatum (3rd June) for leaking classified information to an online tidings outlet which published its study yesterday (5th June) — pregnant the arrest was made 2 days earlier the actual disclosure went online.

Reality Leigh Winner, who held a top-secret safety clearance too worked equally a authorities contractor inward Georgia amongst Pluribus International, was arrested from her habitation inward Augusta on charges involving the leak of top-secret NSA files to 'The Intercept,' an online publication that has been publishing NSA documents leaked yesteryear Edward Snowden since 2014.

The Intercept published a study on Monday, fifth June, based upon a classified document it received anonymously, which claims inward August 2016, Russia's armed services intelligence means "executed a cyber laid upwards on on at to the lowest degree 1 U.S. voting software supplier too sent spear-phishing emails to to a greater extent than than 100 local election officials days earlier [the] election."

The NSA document (dated May 5, 2017) argues that hackers, believed to endure associated amongst the Russian General Main Staff Intelligence Directorate (GRU), had attempted to pause into VR Systems, a Florida fellowship that sells voting registration equipment used inward the 2016 US presidential election.

However, the document did non tell whether the hack had whatsoever send on on the consequence of the election.

This is what the NSA document alleges close the Russian hacking into U.S. voting systems:

"Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate actors … executed cyber espionage operations against a named U.S. fellowship inward August 2016, obviously to obtain information on elections-related software too hardware solutions. … The actors probable used information obtained from that performance to … launch a voter registration-themed spear-phishing movement targeting U.S. local authorities organizations."

How FBI Caught the NSA Leaker, Reality Winner?

What's confusing inward the whole incident is the fact that the arrest of Winner was made on Saturday, but the Top-Secret NSA study yesteryear The Intercept went online later 2 days of the arrest.

So, how the federal authorities identified that Winner was the 1 behind the leak?

The federal officials began their investigation later The Intercept contacted the NSA on May xxx too turned over a re-create of the study to verify the authenticity of that document piece bespeak for comment earlier publishing its report.

Winner did non postal service the actual document (pdf) straight to The Intercept; instead, she took prints of the document too and then emailed a scanned copy of it to the publication.

But, unfortunately, it seems similar Winner was non aware of the fact "that most novel printers impress nearly invisibly yellowish dots that rails downward just when too where documents, whatsoever document, is printed," Robert Graham of published a study on Monday, fifth June, based upon a classified document it received anonymously, which claims inward August 2016, Russia's armed services intelligence means "executed a cyber laid upwards on on at to the lowest degree 1 U.S. voting software supplier too sent spear-phishing emails to to a greater extent than than 100 local election officials days earlier [the] election."

The NSA document (dated May 5, 2017) argues that hackers, believed to endure associated amongst the Russian General Main Staff Intelligence Directorate (GRU), had attempted to pause into VR Systems, a Florida fellowship that sells voting registration equipment used inward the Errata Security said, explaining how the means identified the leaker.

Graham explains step-by-step that how anyone tin flame analyze the scanned re-create of whatsoever printed document to think secretly stored information, which inward this example revealed:

"The document leaked yesteryear the Intercept was from a printer amongst model issue 54, series issue 29535218. The document was printed on May 9, 2017, at 6:20. The NSA almost sure enough has a tape of who used the printer at that time."

Since the NSA logs all printing jobs on its printers, the NSA determined that entirely half dozen employees had access to that document too that Winner was the soul who printed too removed the document from a secure facility.

The means also institute that Winner "had e-mail contact" amongst The Intercept too that no other employees had communicated amongst the tidings outlet.

Winner also allegedly "acknowledged that she was aware of the contents of the intelligence reporting too that she knew the contents of the reporting could endure used to the injury of the U.S. of A. of America too the payoff of a unusual nation," read criminal complaint [PDF] released yesteryear the DoJ on Monday.

"Exceptional police enforcement efforts allowed us chop-chop to position too arrest the defendant," said Deputy Attorney Gen. Rod J. Rosenstein. "Releasing classified cloth without authorisation threatens our nation's safety too undermines populace organized faith inward government. People who are trusted amongst classified information too pledge to protect it must endure held accountable when they violate that obligation."

Winner is facing a count of "gathering, transmitting or losing defense strength information," too upwards to 10 years behind bars if she is convicted.

Share This :