Reference no: EM133502108

Case: Stopping internal threats: Edward Snowden and the NSA Internal threats, adversaries of trust operating within the confines of an organization, are a major danger for both the public and private sector and, are often mentioned as the biggest threat to an organization. Although internal threats, such as disgruntled employees or former employees, contractors, business partners or auditors, can cause various threats to organizations, internal threats in the right places can even have serious diplomatic consequences. In June 2013, major news agencies, including The Guardian, The Washington Post and The New York Times, began publishing news articles about a global surveillance program orchestrated by the US National Security Agency (NSA). U.S. in cooperation with intelligence agencies from several other countries. The source of information for this news was Edward Snowden, a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a former NSA contractor. Snowden provided these news agencies with hundreds of thousands of classified documents that he acquired during his employment contract with the NSA. Their motivation for leaking these documents was to reveal to the public the nature and extent of government surveillance of their citizens' daily electronic activities. The leaked documents revealed a staggering amount of surveillance that was running. Contact lists of people's instant messages and personal emails were collected, email content was routinely searched, certain phone records and location information were tracked, and even monitored and analyzed users of online games like World of Warcraft. Snowden stated that NSA surveillance activities were not limited to protecting national security but consisted of free surveillance of citizens and joint ventures.

In a 2013 letter, Snowden wrote: "There is a big difference between legal programs and legitimate spying. . . and these massive raid surveillance programs that put entire populations under an all-seeing eye and keep copies forever. . These programs were never about terrorism: they are about economic espionage, social control and diplomatic manipulation. It's about power". Snowden leaks, which reveal a lot of U.S. intelligence secrets. Beyond the NSA's surveillance activities, they have been described as the most damaging national security violation in history. The United States Department of Justice accused Snowden of espionage and will face trial if he returns to the United States. Snowden currently resides in Russia, where he has been granted permanent residence, but not permanent political asylum. Snowden is called a hero, whistleblower, dissident, traitor and patriot. In early 2016, he said he was willing to return to the United States for trial if he was "guaranteed a fair trial and allowed to mount a public interest defense of his actions". whether you agree with Snowden's actions, the events described here were clearly the result of an internal threat that exploited vulnerabilities in a system. Edward Snowden was a trusted NSA contractor and was granted extensive access to classified data due to his role as an administrator and security analyst. While the Snowden revelations initiated a wide-ranging debate about the legality and morality of government electronic surveillance policies, these events also sparked renewed interest from governments and businesses in effective ways to reduce domestic threats.

Question 1: Choose a large company that many people are familiar with. How could internal threats harm this company?

Question 2: How can companies reduce internal threats?

Question 3: Investigate Snowden leaks on the web. How could Snowden access so many classified documents?