Snoops Scared Of Snowden Doomsday Stash

Spies from major global intelligence agencies are fretting over a cache of “doomsday” documents yet to be released by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Just days after fresh Snowden leaks revealed NSA had compromised at least 50,000 networks across the world, intelligence officers have expressed their concern about the potential impact of future releases, according to Reuters.

Snowden’s secret stash

It’s believed the files are Snowden’s “insurance policy” against arrest and are stored separately from other files that have been funnelled to the press. Agents believe the releases that have caused such a furore so far have just been the tip of the iceberg and the worst is yet to come.

Multiple passwords are needed to unlock the files, which contain the names of US and allied intelligence personnel from the NSA and other agencies, according to people briefed on the matter.

Those passwords are owned by at least three people, the sources said, and their identities are unknown.

According to the sources, Snowden started grabbing files on GCHQ during his time at Dell, gaining access to the classified GC-Wiki website. He later moved to Booz Allen Hamilton to scoop up more data on intelligence agencies.

The latest leaks showed the NSA’s Computer Network Exploitation programme had infected 50,000 networks with malware, according to Dutch paper NRC Handelsblad. It’s believed the operations have been carried out by the agency’s Tailored Access Operations group.

The NSA was also said to have allegedly spied on British citizens thanks to a deal agreed with UK counterparts in 2007.

Shhh! Do our whistleblower quiz – we won’t tell!

Thomas Brewster

Tom Brewster is TechWeek Europe's Security Correspondent. He has also been named BT Information Security Journalist of the Year in 2012 and 2013.

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