Jury Finds Air Force Veteran Guilty in First Conviction After Trial in the United States for Attempting to Travel Overseas to Join ISIL
(DOJ) Former U.S. Air Force Airplane Mechanic Convicted of Attempting to Provide Material Support to Terrorists and Obstruction of an Official Proceeding A jury in the Eastern District of New York today found Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 48, of Neptune, New Jersey, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, guilty of attempting to provide material support […]
The Company Man: Protecting America’s Secrets
(FBI) Economic espionage is a problem that costs the American economy billions of dollars annually and puts our national security at risk. To raise awareness of the issue, the FBI and the National Counterintelligence and Security Center have launched a nationwide campaign and released a short film aimed at educating anyone with a trade secret […]
Encryption useless when OPM hires foreign contractors
“You’ve reached the IT Help Desk. How can I help you today?” Who needs to hack into a system when you are given the keys to the front door? Let’s cut to the chase of this Ars Technica article and highlight this info towards the end: Some of the contractors that have helped OPM with managing internal […]
Navy Civilian Engineer Pleads Guilty to Attempted Espionage
(DOJ/NSD) Mostafa Ahmed Awwad, 36, of Yorktown, Virginia, pleaded guilty today to charges of attempted espionage relating to his attempt to provide schematics of the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to Egypt while serving as a Navy engineer. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of […]
Former DOE employee tried to sell US nuclear secrets to foreign country
‘My country for a Honda Civic.’ That’s how much a former DOE/NRC government employee thought the United States was worth. He walked into a foreign embassy overseas and tried to sell US secrets so he could buy a new Honda Civic. The price to sell out the country is getting lower and lower. He told […]
New Book on Nicholson Spy Case
Jim Nicholson was a GS-15 CIA operations officer when he volunteered to spy for the Russian SVR intelligence service (shortly after another CIA officer, Rick Ames, was arrested in 1994). One of Nicholson’s job was training new CIA operations officers, and gave their names to the Russians. He was arrested in 1996. Later, while in jail, […]
U.S. military personnel have been convicted of $50 million worth of crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan
DICE Principles one, two and three: Do the right thing when no one is looking. Live with honor. Have integrity every day. Stealing secrets, stealing fuel, stealing money–it’s all the same and done in the same way through vulnerabilities, relationships, recruitments, wanting revenge, wanting to get rich quick instead of earning money honorably. U.S. military […]
How to Create Awareness of the Insider Threat
(CIO/Ira Winkler) One of the legacies of Edward Snowden’s treason is that companies are now concerned about the insider threat more than they ever were before. He demonstrates that a single person inside an organization can devastate the organization. While technology should have caught Snowden, there is also the realization that his coworkers and managers […]
Insider Threat Awareness Growing But Action Lacking
(HStoday) Although the insider threat is on the radar for most organizations, many are repeatedly failing to take the necessary steps to prevent an attack, according to a recent report sponsored by SpectorSoft and conducted by the SANS Institute. The report, Insider Threats and the Need for a Fast and Directed Response, surveyed 772 IT security […]
Hacker Implants NFC Chip In His Hand To Bypass Security Scans And Exploit Android Phones
(Forbes) US navy petty officer Seth Wahle, now an engineer at APA Wireless, implanted a chip in his hand, in between the thumb and the finger of his left hand. It has an NFC (Near Field Communications) antenna that pings Android phones, asking them to open a link. Once the user agrees to open that […]
Owner of Defense Contracting Businesses Pleads Guilty to Illegally Exporting Military Blueprints
Hannah Robert, a defense contractor, did not protect technical drawings related to parts used in the torpedo systems for nuclear submarines, military attack helicopters and F-15 fighter aircrafts. She was willing to provide them to any foreign buyer — and she transmitted the plans via her church’s website to hide her activities. Not only that, but […]
US Army National Guard Soldier Arrested for Conspiring to Support Terrorism (ISIL)
US Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds, 22, a U.S. citizen, was arrested at Chicago Midway International Airport while attempting to fly to Cairo, Egypt. He is charged with allegedly conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a foreign terrorist organization. His cousin, who planned on shooting up to 150 military […]
INSIDER THREAT: US Defense Contractor calls Iran “my nation”; tried to transfer skills learned at 3 companies
A guy who had worked for three different US defense contractors wanted to “transfer” the “skills and knowledge” he learned at these companies to Iran, which he called, “my nation.” Dual loyalties anyone? And at a US government contractor company?? (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly for […]
Careless/Untrained Insiders are Biggest Threat
(NextGov) Rank-and-file federal employees and contractors unwilling to “embrace ‘The Suck’ of security” may be the biggest threat posed to securing federal agency networks. “Accidental or careless” insiders — employees who click on dubious email attachments, plug in unsecured storage devices or leave laptops unsecured, among other lapses in basic cyber hygiene — unwittingly open the door […]
Computer administrator at US military base pleads guilty to Espionage and Computer Fraud
(DOJ) Palm Beach County Resident Pleads Guilty Under the Espionage Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for Accessing and Removing Classified Information from Military Computers Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George Piro for the FBI’s […]
Former Los Alamos National Laboratory Scientist Sentenced to Prison for Atomic Energy Act Violations
(DOJ) Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez for the District of New Mexico, Assistant Director Randall C. Coleman of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division and Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division announced that Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni, a scientist formerly employed at the […]
Federal Employee Provided China with Sensitive Information on US Dams
(Washington Free Beacon) A federal weather service employee charged with stealing sensitive infrastructure data from an Army Corps of Engineers database met a Chinese government official in Beijing, according to court documents that reveal the case to be part of an FBI probe of Chinese economic espionage. Xiafen “Sherry” Chen, an employee of the National […]
More on Navy engineer trying to sell aircraft carrier secrets
Navy engineer accused in carrier plot attended Old Dominion University, lived in York subdivision (Daily Press) The Navy engineer accused of attempting to sell design drawings of America’s newest aircraft carrier to the Egyptian government lived with his family in a well-known York County subdivision and received a bachelor’s degree from Old Dominion University last […]
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