Snowden Leak Caused ‘Tremendous’ Damage to U.S. Security

Snowden Leak Caused 'Tremendous Damage' to U.S. Security

  • Sep 16, 2016

In the recent days, Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, has asked President Obama for a pardon that would allow him to come back into the United States without being arrested for leaking sensitive information. In response, a U.S. House committee released a scathing report accusing Snowden of lying about his background, feuding with co-workers and leaking secrets that “caused tremendous damage” to U.S. security.

The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee report declared that Snowden was “not a whistleblower” like he has said in many interviews and that most of the material that he stole from the NSA outposts was about intelligence and defense programs of great interest to  U.S. foreign adversaries.

The committee only released a four-page summary of the 36-page investigative report. The information in the report remains highly classified, but contained strong words about Snowden’s actions and background.

The committee admitted that the “full-scope” of damage caused by Snowden’s leak remains unknown. A review of materials he allegedly compromised "makes clear that he handed over secrets that protect American troops overseas and secrets that provide vital defenses against terrorists and nation-states."

U.S. officials have said that Obama is not considering a pardon for Snowden and that there is no discussion of such a pardon inside the Justice Department.

Featured

  • AI Is Now the Leading Cybersecurity Concern for Security, IT Leaders

    Arctic Wolf recently published findings from its State of Cybersecurity: 2025 Trends Report, offering insights from a global survey of more than 1,200 senior IT and cybersecurity decision-makers across 15 countries. Conducted by Sapio Research, the report captures the realities, risks, and readiness strategies shaping the modern security landscape. Read Now

  • Analysis of AI Tools Shows 85 Percent Have Been Breached

    AI tools are becoming essential to modern work, but their fast, unmonitored adoption is creating a new kind of security risk. Recent surveys reveal a clear trend – employees are rapidly adopting consumer-facing AI tools without employer approval, IT oversight, or any clear security policies. According to Cybernews Business Digital Index, nearly 90% of analyzed AI tools have been exposed to data breaches, putting businesses at severe risk. Read Now

  • Software Vulnerabilities Surged 61 Percent in 2024, According to New Report

    Action1, a provider of autonomous endpoint management (AEM) solutions, today released its 2025 Software Vulnerability Ratings Report, revealing a 61% year-over-year surge in discovered software vulnerabilities and a 96% spike in exploited vulnerabilities throughout 2024, amid an increasingly aggressive threat landscape. Read Now

  • Motorola Solutions Named Official Safety Technology Supplier of the Ryder Cup through 2027

    Motorola Solutions has today been named the Official Safety Technology Supplier of the 2025 and 2027 Ryder Cup, professional golf’s renowned biennial team competition between the United States and Europe. Read Now

  • Evolving Cybersecurity Strategies

    Organizations are increasingly turning their attention to human-focused security approaches, as two out of three (68%) cybersecurity incidents involve people. Threat actors are shifting from targeting networks and systems to hacking humans via social engineering methods, living off human errors as their most prevalent attack vector. Whether manipulated or not, human cyber behavior is leveraged to gain backdoor access into systems. This mainly results from a lack of employee training and awareness about evolving attack techniques employed by malign actors. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions.

  • Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems, an industry-leading manufacturer of pedestrian and vehicle secure entrance control access systems, is pleased to announce the release of its groundbreaking V07 software. The V07 software update is designed specifically to address cybersecurity concerns and will ensure the integrity and confidentiality of Automatic Systems applications. With the new V07 software, updates will be delivered by means of an encrypted file.