Edward Snowden's 2013 Data Breach: A Detailed Report on the NSA Leak

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the 2013 Edward Snowden data breach, focusing on the events leading up to the leak of classified information from the NSA. It details Snowden's actions, including his methods of obtaining and disseminating the data, and the various programs he exposed, such as PRISM. The report examines the accomplishments of the breach, the multiple consequences for the NSA and US government, including loss of jobs and reputational damage, and the broader implications for cybersecurity, IT professionals, and organizational security practices. It also discusses the government's responses, such as increased surveillance and stricter controls. The report concludes by highlighting the complex nature of the Snowden case, the ongoing debates about privacy, security, and the future of intelligence gathering, and the importance of individual responsibility in the digital age.

Running head: EDWARD SNOWDEN 2013
Edward Snowden 2013
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1EDWARD SNOWDEN 2013
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Description about Edward Snowden 2013......................................................................................2
Accomplishment..............................................................................................................................3
Consequences..................................................................................................................................5
Implications.....................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

2EDWARD SNOWDEN 2013
Introduction
A data breach is the reported occurrence requiring exposure to and release of personal,
confidential or otherwise covered data in the unauthorized manner. Infringements of the sensitive
and confidential data can include personal health information, publicly identifiable
information, corporate secrets or the intellectual property. Exposures of the common data breach
can include the personal information like credit card numbers, records of health insurance and
social security numbers as well as organizational information such as client lists, production
procedures, and source code codes. If someone who is not expressly allowed to do so finds those
data, this is said that the agency responsible for securing the information has suffered the data
breach. Among the data known data breaches, one is Edward Snowden that occurred in the year
2013 in USA (Scheuerman 2014). Therefore, this repot aims to discuss the way in which the
data breach had been accomplished and the consequences on the organization that was breached.
Description about Edward Snowden 2013
Edward Joseph Snowden is an American whistleblower who was an analyst and
the subcontractor of the Central Intelligence Agency of USA in 2013 when he leaked highly
classified data or information from the NSA (National Security Agency). Edward Snowden's
2013 NSA Data breach was potentially the most damaging data leak ever to have an impact on
the US Intelligence Agency (Verble 2014). His leaks exposed various multinational intelligence
programs, several run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the collaboration
of telephone providers and European governments, which sparked a public debate on cyber
security which individual privacy. Edward Snowden leaked nearly 1.7 million classified
intelligence information from the NSA and distributed them to a multitude of news agencies to

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reveal numerous hidden operations that were implemented against their own people, world
officials and other international goals (Lucas 2014). Some of these archives document NSA-held
domestic spying systems that gather data from ordinary American people through various web
channels. This incident was reported all over the country, with new stories and information every
single day making headlines.
Snowden has been kept up in Hong Kong because the issue was first leaked to The
Guardian, a prominent UK publication, only to see his citizenship revoked and finally moved to
Russia, which gave him asylum for one year and then prolonged his term (Branum and Charteris-
Black 2015). The US Government is currently struggling with how to manage the situation
effectively with Edward Snowden as well as the NSA. Multiple congressmen gave various views
on Snowden’s fate and on the intelligence services. This report of this study was to examine both
the motivations of Edward Snowden, the future of the NSA and its programmes. All sides need
to be scrutinized equally. Taking that the good-versus-evil and black-and-white, debate would be
the mistake; there are aspects, which both parties have done, which the public likes and dislikes
(Chadwick and Collister 2014). The government of the US was swift to protect the NSA and its
activities after the publication of The Guardian's findings. President Obama defended the
operations and programs of NSA, saying that the lives were spared as well as that the NSA's
mobile and Internet monitoring were narrow (Branum and Charteris-Black 2015). In the
meantime, numerous politicians and analysts have either come forward to laud or condemn the
actions of both the NSA as well as Edward Snowden.
Accomplishment
Using multiple ways, Edward Snowden became able to accomplish the data breach in
which one of the ways was social engineering. Through having colleagues for sharing their login

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credentials, he gained high access and privileges to the information (Madison 2014). He
achieved the data breach in the year 2013 by breaching security measures intended
for compartmentalizing the data and data access that is based on the need to know. By intimate
device information, compliance monitoring, and inspection vulnerabilities he copied the data or
information to four laptops that is 1 TB each. He interacted with the reporters beginning in
January in the year 2013 through the encrypted e-mails (Lustgarten 2015). After that he left
Hawaii to Hong Kong sent key information about the data breach to the reporters then he left
Hong Kong for the asylum in Russia. Thereafter, he interacted through the Internet such as e-
mail, safe webcast, Telepresence Robot power, Twitter and mobile and so on.
He disclosed many information on:
 MANY GCHQ Classified Joint Programmes
 MANY NSA Classified Programmes
 Spying on Our "Enemies"
 Spying on Allies (Branum and Charteris-Black 2015)
 Spying on Americans
 NSA Working Yahoo, Google and Microsoft and so on
 NSA research and its job obligations (Mahmou and Zeki 2016)
 Offensive and defensive cyber warfare practices and players
 Digital Technology and Discrediting Strategy Techniques
Its ideology and confidence in democracy, security, the personal freedoms and the
internet and he also promised to disclosed much more information than had done (Mahmoud and
Zeki 2016). Form the surveillance programs of NSA, Edward Snowden had disclosed the
detailed information about the following aspects of the organization NSA.

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 PRISM Boundless
 Dropmire
 Tubine
 Informant
 MYSTIC
 Bullrun
 Fairview Surveillance Detection Unit (Branum and Charteris-Black 2015)
 X-Keyscore
 Synapse
 Quantumhand
Edward Snowden also disclosed the detailed information about the GCHQ collaboration
including IMP, MUSCULAR, Tempora, JTRIG, Global Telecoms Exploitation and Mastering
the Internet (Miller and Walsh 2016).
Consequences
There were multiple consequences, which effected the National Security Agency of the
USA and NSA. One official of the U.S. government stated that because of the Edward Snowden
data breach they would believe that the Russians know everything about their surveillance
systems (Toxen 2014). The United States would have for going back to the drawing board and
developing and executing the most of the services that offered the resources they needed and
desire. The media of the USA had described the Snowden consequence in July 2013 as the
indirect and direct increases in public awareness from the chain of events and the further
coverage that accompanied Edward Snowden's leaks from secret surveillance state information
or data in the U.S. In the year 2013 December, Edward Snowden had engendered an unnecessary

6EDWARD SNOWDEN 2013
discussion on national privacy and security (Deibert 2015). The NSA and the other intelligence
agencies or services then needed to reconsider their strategies for human defense moreover, less
people would be consuming the highly classified data. At the 2014, the World Economic Forum,
the internet expert interpreted reports that the Microsoft would require international consumers to
store the personal data on the servers outside of the America as the warning that Snowden's
revelations were causing countries and businesses to create barriers in cyberspace (Gardner
2016). The Pew Research Center discovered in the Spring 2014 Global Attitudes Survey, which
Edward Snowden's revelations had tarnished the reputation of the United States, especially in
Latin America as well as Europe. Because of this data breach the chief of the Central Secur4ity
Service and agency NSA as well as the Cyber Command of US lost his job and his deputy John
C. Inglis also lost his job. It was revealed on October 16, in the year 2013 that the NSA was
replacing General Alexander and the Deputy of General Alexander John C. Inglis. This news
comes on the verge of four months of the NSA espionage allegations sparked by former NSA
contractor Edward Snowden’s press leaks (Bauman et al. 2014). Some of other Snowden's
superiors at the Booz Allen Hamilton and NSA were most definitely secretly fired. In February
2015, commenting on the impact of his revelations, Snowden himself wrote that the biggest shift
was in understanding. Before 2013, if you claimed the NSA made records of everybody's
phonecalls and the GCHQ tracked journalists and lawyers, the people raised their eyebrows and
labeled the people the conspiracy theorist (Elhai and Hall 2016). There were comprised Edward
Snowden effect on the Government of the USA. Because of the data breach the Government of
the USA had to take the following measures to secure the organizations.
 The government has implemented the better vulnerability or risk identification and
compliance the reduction systems of the National Intelligence agency.

7EDWARD SNOWDEN 2013
 The government had improve the monitoring of the information (Gardner 2016).
 The government has announced for the less funds will be expended on the
implementation of innovative surveillance technologies and privacy retention initiatives.
 Fewer individuals would gain exposure to highly sensitive privacy to the sensitive and
confidential information of the agencies (Toxen 2014).
 People with access to the information and data will be more closely supervised with the
quicker and stricter punishments for violations of the rules for preventing or avoiding the
data breach.
Implications
Implications of the data breach in which Edward Snowden effect the field of cyber
security career are:
 The staffs of the cyber security organization must be experienced and more qualified.
 There should be more frequent trainings of the cyber security and the data breaches with
their consequences (Oliva et al. 2016).
 More certified staffs should be hired for the cyber security organization.
 There should be more stringent controls such as two-man policies, background checks,
and better control of the access to the sensitive and confidential data and information with
more secure and strong surveillance in the organization (Branum and Charteris-Black
2015).
Implications of the data breach in which Edward Snowden effect the field of IT professionals.
The qualifications standard would be even stronger with no further drop-outs from high school or
the GEDs. There should be further certifications and the degrees related to cybersecurity. The

8EDWARD SNOWDEN 2013
organization must do the stronger background check as well as the organization must demand
the further monitoring of the IT professionals. The implications of the data breach for the
Snowden in the organization must be done by doing the risk management and risk assessment
programs (Watkins 2014). The organization must revamp the programs of the security
management by applying the controls of the Control Framework, which will relate to the Asset
Management and the Security Personnel. There must be trainings related to the ethics and
security of the organization from data breach. The organization must increase the surveillance
and the accountability as well as controls (Oliva et al. 2016). Very less people need to have the
access to the classified and confidential data. The organization must implement two-man policies
by applying and using the metrics, which will improve the monitoring and security system of the
organization.
Conclusion
This study provided an analysis of the consequences and results of revelations produced
by Edward Snowden. It contained a short overview and the review of the responses to
announcements from various countries and technology firms. This paper addressed the possible
implications of Snowden's behavior in regards to him, the NSA, international affairs as well as
technological firms both within and outside the US. Eventually. This study discussed potential
future implications for the disclosures. Edward Snowden’s case and the NSA is
the extraordinarily important, complicated and challenging topic. At the surface, several view
Snowden as an anti-machine spy, or the traitor who betrayed his government. The truth is that
Edward Snowden is the crafty and clever guy who has had to cope with a bureaucratic and
corrupt government agency’s truth. Nevertheless, Snowden's tactics can be seen as controversial.
He wholeheartedly trusts his motives are positive, but the effects will both benefit the people he

9EDWARD SNOWDEN 2013
likes and support the world. The chances are that he will never ever hit American soil. When US
people are interested and wish for making personal and electronic privacy a big problem, they
would have to make this a top priority at the city, national, and federal level. People do need to
be careful about what information they exchange through social media, purchases and contact on
the internet. Security does not matter because people in any aspect of life share any detail of
themselves. Websites and other companies do so with as much information as the NSA receives.
Information is gathered for online shopping, email and banking in mobile phones, tablets and
laptops and as well as applications and websites. These companies, computers, and services can
capture more personal data than the NSA ever could.

10EDWARD SNOWDEN 2013
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