The last time an NSA insider claimed that a rogue agent originating at the spy agency itself may be the source of the recent Democratic server (and George Soros) hacks and subsequent leaks, was three weeks ago when former NSA employee, William Binney said that “NSA Has All Of Hillary’s Deleted Emails, It May Be The Leak.”
Now, in the aftermath of the latest major hack, one involving none other than the NSA’s special operations team, the “Equation Group” by a mysterious hacker collective calling itself “The Shadow Brokers” which even the likes of Edward Snowden hinted may have been done by Russia, speculation has returned that this latest, and most troubling hack yet, was also an inside job.
In an interview with Motherboard, titled “Former NSA Staffers: Rogue Insider Could Be Behind NSA Data Dump” an anonymous insider has said that the chances of a hacker remotely breaking into the National Security Agency’s systems are very unlikely. Despite accusations that the leak is Russia’s meddling, the data dropped online under the name “the Shadow Brokers” would have required someone with the ability to access the NSA’s server, the former NSA employee told the news outlet.
As Motherboard puts it, an insider could have stolen the NSA hacking tools from the NSA, in a similar fashion to how former NSA contractor Edward Snowden stole an untold number of the spy agency’s top secret documents. This theory is being pushed by someone who claims to be, himself, a former NSA insider.
“My colleagues and I are fairly certain that this was no hack, or group for that matter,” the former NSA employee told Motherboard. “This ‘Shadow Brokers’ character is one guy, an insider employee.”
The source raised points that suggest the hack was actually a leak, such as the “naming convention of the file directories, as well as some of the scripts in the dump,” as they “are only accessible internally.” To validate his credentials, the insider provided a military award as proof of his past employment, and multiple former intelligence sources who reviewed the award for Motherboard said it looks legitimate. That award describes the source’s role as a “Cyber Intrusion Analyst,” and although he was not a member of TAO himself, he said he was able to work with TAO operators and access and analyze the data retrieved. – READ MORE
