Author Topic: Snowden leaks 'worst ever loss to British intelligence'  (Read 874 times)

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Offline EC

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Snowden leaks 'worst ever loss to British intelligence'
« on: October 11, 2013, 06:43:05 am »
Via the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24486649

Quote
Leaked surveillance programme details have been the "most catastrophic loss to British intelligence ever", a senior UK security expert has said.

Former No 10 adviser Sir David Omand said he assumed data leaked by ex-US intelligence worker Edward Snowden was being analysed by Russia and China.

He said the breach was worse than that by the Cambridge spy ring in the 1950s.

The Guardian has said it will continue to publish leaks by Mr Snowden, who is now in Russia.
Damaging

Sir David, the former head of the UK's communications surveillance centre GCHQ, told the Times: "You have to distinguish between the original whistleblowing intent to get a debate going, which is a responsible thing to do, and the stealing of 58,000 top-secret British security documents and who knows how many American documents, which is seriously, seriously damaging.

"The assumption the experts are working on is that all that information or almost all of it will now be in the hands of Moscow and Beijing.

"It's the most catastrophic loss to British intelligence ever, much worse than Burgess and Maclean in the 1950s."

More at link. Snowden - the gift that keeps on giving.
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