Author Topic: NSA Leaker  (Read 2719 times)

Ben

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NSA Leaker
« on: June 06, 2017, 01:36:55 PM »
Seems we haven't started talking about this one yet. From what's out there as of now, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing I was expecting. I was surrounded by many of these kinds of people (blessedly none of them had security clearances) when I was working, and saw the same kind of leaking. Most of it suspected, but in one case involving leaking of FOUO that evolved into a lawsuit against the USCG by the center for biological diversity, there was evidence that no one higher up did anything about. I suspect because they were kind of happy the leak resulted in the suit themselves.

There are LOTS of these people in fed.gov. She screwed up and got caught, but I guarantee there are others doing the same thing right this minute, and I guarantee if they have social media profiles, they are similar to hers.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/06/who-is-reality-winner-accused-leaker-wanted-to-resist-trump.html
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TechMan

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2017, 02:07:23 PM »
I quite wasn't following the story, until I realized her name was Reality Winner.   :facepalm:
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Monkeyleg

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2017, 06:22:31 PM »
The Justice Department had better seek 10 years for this one. An example needs to be made.

Scout26

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2017, 10:35:18 PM »
If I was her lawyer, I'd go with the Hillary Clinton Defense.... ;)
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RoadKingLarry

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2017, 02:21:08 AM »
I'd be OK with the death penalty on this one.
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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #5 on: June 07, 2017, 10:35:34 AM »
She was caught in very short order. Being a short bus type, she didn't realize the files she printed out were watermarked.

You can download the file and figure it out yourself:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3766950-NSA-Report-on-Russia-Spearphishing.html#document/p1
https://w2.eff.org/Privacy/printers/docucolor/#program

Printed at May 9, 2017 at 6:20am from a Xerox Docucolor printer with serial number 535218 or 29535218.

In fairness, someone with a TS going on twitter rages against the POTUS probably isn't bright enough to know basic tradecraft.
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TechMan

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #6 on: June 07, 2017, 10:41:27 AM »
She was caught in very short order. Being a short bus type, she didn't realize the files she printed out were watermarked. So the NSA figured it out in about an hour after they leaked.

Those damn yellow dots will get you every time.
http://blog.erratasec.com/2017/06/how-intercept-outed-reality-winner.html#.WTgQaev1JhE
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Ben

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #7 on: June 07, 2017, 10:49:55 AM »
She was caught in very short order. Being a short bus type, she didn't realize the files she printed out were watermarked.



In fairness, someone with a TS going on twitter rages against the POTUS probably isn't bright enough to know basic tradecraft.

That is somewhat surprising to me. Given, I don't know the Air Force's training structure regarding classified data, but it seems something like that should be in the "101" course. Had she not had the Air Force background and simply been a civilian contractor, I could see something like that slipping by the training, which seems to vary very widely.

Otherwise, yeah, not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
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dogmush

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #8 on: June 07, 2017, 01:02:15 PM »
That is somewhat surprising to me. Given, I don't know the Air Force's training structure regarding classified data, but it seems something like that should be in the "101" course. Had she not had the Air Force background and simply been a civilian contractor, I could see something like that slipping by the training, which seems to vary very widely.

Otherwise, yeah, not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

The military doesn't give it's clearance holders any formalized training on how it catches leaks, or tracks classified information in the wild.  Why would it?  Those are exactly the people the tricks are supposed to catch.

Ben

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #9 on: June 07, 2017, 03:22:54 PM »
The military doesn't give it's clearance holders any formalized training on how it catches leaks, or tracks classified information in the wild.  Why would it?  Those are exactly the people the tricks are supposed to catch.

I didn't mean precise details, but along the lines of, "Don't even try, because we'll know you did it" when going over proper handling procedures. Especially for someone doing her old AF job.

Maybe it's because I did a lot of IT stuff so am biased, but I also always just assumed it was common knowledge that print jobs could be traced.
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lee n. field

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #10 on: June 07, 2017, 03:49:38 PM »
I didn't mean precise details, but along the lines of, "Don't even try, because we'll know you did it" when going over proper handling procedures. Especially for someone doing her old AF job.

Maybe it's because I did a lot of IT stuff so am biased, but I also always just assumed it was common knowledge that print jobs could be traced.

I'm not so sure it is.  I remember reading about that, but a long time ago.  But I hadn't thought about it for years, until reminded by an online article about this particular incident.
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Ben

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #11 on: June 07, 2017, 03:57:31 PM »
I'm not so sure it is.  I remember reading about that, but a long time ago.  But I hadn't thought about it for years, until reminded by an online article about this particular incident.

I just mostly remember from the first time we got one of the ginormous Xerox MFCs (I think it was like a $14K machine) that was supposedly good enough to counterfeit with, and we were briefed on besides what we could do via the network, the internal tracking that was installed on it. Everyone that used that machine had a passcode as well, so unless they were giving their code out to interns or whoever (all too frequently) you could track who and when that way as well.

I was gonna say that I would assume that any printers anywhere in a building where TS material is kept would have multiple ways of tracking, including access passcodes, but assuming seems to be making an ass out of me, so I won't.  =D
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MillCreek

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #12 on: June 07, 2017, 08:55:11 PM »
I have also read that making a black and white printout defeats the yellow dot tracking code.
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Hawkmoon

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #14 on: June 26, 2018, 10:14:01 PM »
Is that what they call a "reality check"?
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MechAg94

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #15 on: June 26, 2018, 10:17:16 PM »
Is that what they call a "reality check"?
A win for reality versus fantasy?
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Andiron

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #16 on: June 26, 2018, 10:17:50 PM »
She ought to thank whatever gods she prays to for that lenient of a sentence.
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230RN

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #17 on: June 26, 2018, 10:57:05 PM »
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... The Justice Department does not speak to motivation, but Winner’s social media pages indicate she was a passionate environmentalist who shared Bernie Sanders material online and held some anti-Trump views. She shared numerous articles and comments against the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines (which Trump has moved to revive) on her Facebook page, even posting a letter she sent to the office of Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga. ...

Sounds like a formal "profile" to alert spybusters anyhow.

If I were a spybuster, I'd'a tried to pull something off to tempt the "profiled person-of-interest/suspect" to incriminate her/him/it/self.

If I were a spybuster.  Which I ain't.

But I wouldn't use real Juicy Top Secret Stuff, just Stuff which was labeled Top Secret Stuff and had the look and smell of Juicy Top Secret Stuff.

I'm not signing this one so nobody will know who posted it.
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Hawkmoon

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #18 on: June 26, 2018, 11:23:29 PM »
If I was her lawyer, I'd go with the Hillary Clinton Defense.... ;)


Agreed. From the article:

Quote
“Exceptional law enforcement efforts allowed us to quickly identify and arrest the defendant,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said on Monday. “Releasing classified material without authorization threatens our nation’s security and undermines public faith in government.”

Rosenstein added: “People who are trusted with classified information and pledge to protect it must be held accountable when they violate that obligation.

Unless their name is Hillary Clinton, of course.
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Scout26

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #19 on: June 26, 2018, 11:29:41 PM »
I jut remember the annual threat of "Phook up with any classified information, and you'll be buried under The Disciplinary Barrack at Leavenworth.:
Some days even my lucky rocketship underpants won't help.


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Hawkmoon

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #20 on: June 27, 2018, 01:50:01 AM »
I found it slightly curious that the article seemed to make a big deal out of Ms. Winner copying a Top Secret document she didn't have a need to know about. The real question is, if she didn't have a need to know, why was she even looking at it? My security clearance was only Secret, but I knew what I didn't need to know.
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230RN

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Re: NSA Leaker
« Reply #21 on: June 27, 2018, 07:57:43 AM »
Hawkmoon, see Reply #17:

http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=54830.msg1166712#msg1166712

Five will get you eight it was "provided" to her.  I was only half kidding in that post.

New York Times:

"Ms. Winner, who was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 2016, was working as a contractor for the National Security Agency when she obtained a copy of a report that described hacks by a Russian intelligence service against local election officials and a company that sold software related to voter registration."

Pleaded guilty.  Sixty three months in the pokey.  G-d only know how much damage she did to this, my country and yours, while she was in the Air Force.

I suspect the government wanted a plea deal to avoid any exposure of other sensitive matters as well as how they figured out from her external postings that she was a security threat.  That's what I suspect, but what do I know?  Nuthin'.  That's what.

Terry
« Last Edit: June 27, 2018, 08:10:40 AM by 230RN »