The sun rises. It’s the dawn of not just a new day, but of a new century in our partnerships with clients. Cybersecurity protections are now more thorough and powerful; lethal IEDs may have met their technological match; disease is being fought faster; the fingerprints of criminals tell a story in an instant. These are our clients’ stories—and ours, too.
On the journey from trusted partner to essential partner, we’ve changed just one word that changes everything for our clients.
Your Essential Partner
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
http://www.boozallen.com/stories/essential-partner
Booz Allen Hamilton
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booz_Allen_Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. is an American management consulting firm headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, in Greater Washington DC, with 80 other offices throughout the United States.
**
In June 2013, Edward Snowden – at the time a Booz Allen employee contracted to projects of the National Security Agency (NSA) – publicly disclosed details of classified mass surveillance and data collection programs, including PRISM. The alleged leaks are said to rank among the most significant breaches in the history of the NSA and led to considerable concern worldwide. Booz Allen condemned Snowden’s leak of the existence of PRISM as “shocking” and “a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm”. The company fired Snowden in absentia shortly after and stated he had been an employee for less than three months at the time. Market analysts considered the incident “embarrassing” but unlikely to cause enduring commercial damage. Booz Allen stated that it would work with authorities and clients to investigate the leak. Charles Riley of CNN/Money said that Booz Allen was “scrambling to distance itself from Snowden.”
According to Reuters, a source “with detailed knowledge on the matter” stated that Booz Allen’s hiring screeners detected possible discrepancies in Snowden’s résumé regarding his education since some details “did not check out precisely”, but decided to hire him anyway; Reuters stated that the element which triggered these concerns, or the manner in which Snowden satisfied the concerns, were not known.
On Wednesday July 10, 2013, the United States Air Force stated that it cleared Booz Allen of wrongdoing regarding the Snowden case.
**
Booz Allen Faces More Fallout After NSA Contractor’s Arrest
Suspect in theft of top-secret documents worked at firm that also employed Snowden
by Doug Cameron and Damian Paletta
http://www.wsj.com/articles/booz-allen-faces-more-fallout-after-nsa-contractors-arrest-1475707097
With new charges that one of its contractors mishandled government secrets, Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. is facing its second major personnel scandal in three years.
The Justice Department on Wednesday charged Harold Thomas Martin, a Maryland resident, with stealing top-secret documents and unlawfully taking government property. Mr. Martin, a contractor for the National Security Agency, was employed by Booz Allen, according to people familiar with the situation, the same firm that employed Edward Snowden.
In 2013, Mr. Snowden, also an NSA contractor, leaked details of secretive government programs, triggering a global backlash and an overhaul of U.S. surveillance programs. Mr. Snowden fled to Russia and hasn’t returned to the U.S.
Booz Allen has tried to distance itself from Mr. Snowden and stressed it has improved internal controls, but the company and NSA are facing fresh questions about how these breaches could happen twice in three years.
“This alleged new theft of classified information by a contract employee is deeply distressing,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “I applaud the FBI for making an arrest, but it is painfully clear that the intelligence community still has much to do to institutionalize reforms designed to protect in advance the nation’s sources and methods from insider threats.”
The NSA is one of the government’s most secretive agencies, dealing in espionage and military programs. Two major breaches in three years is a giant setback for the agency, which is still trying to regain trust with the public and businesses about the scope of its operations. But even after Mr. Snowden fled the U.S. with details of secret programs, the NSA and other federal agencies remained reliant on Booz Allen and other contractors to participate in secretive programs.
“It’s fair to say we rely on contractors for very sensitive work, and they can work side by side with government employees,” said Rajesh De, chairman of the cybersecurity practice at law firm Mayer Brown and a former general counsel at the NSA. “A lay person oftentimes couldn’t even tell the difference.”
The precise number of government contractors working on sensitive programs couldn’t be learned, but former government officials said it is quite substantial. Many of these contractors, were formerly in government service and have a security clearance. The government relies on contractors because it can be more cost-effective and allow agencies to ramp up or down programs without expanding the number of government employees.
But that can also pose risks, putting some distance between the intelligence community and people who have access to sensitive programs. Those contractors still must undergo a government-driven security clearance, but the relationship is likely to face new scrutiny now.
“Once subcontracted workforces become the new normal, it becomes irresistible. It becomes the model for how to organize,” said Louis Hyman, a professor at Cornell University’s ILR School and an expert on alternative labor models.
While it is difficult for outsiders to determine whether it is cheaper for the government to contract this work to Booz than to manage and oversee it itself, “there’s a perception that it’s cheaper, and there are a lot of consultants who will sell you formulas to show you it’s a cheaper and equally effective option,” he added.
Booz Allen tried Wednesday to limit the fallout from Mr. Martin’s alleged breach, saying it had fired an employee arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was cooperating with investigators.
Mr. Martin’s lawyer, Jim Wyda, said the charges “are mere allegations. We have not seen any evidence. There is no evidence that Hal Martin intended to betray his country.”
Booz Allen is one of an elite group of contractors that provides analysts and systems support to the NSA, the Pentagon and other U.S. intelligence bodies. In recent years, contractors have pursued more technical and profitable work such as cybersecurity.
The company derives the bulk of its $5.4 billion in revenue in its last fiscal year from defense and intelligence agencies, and more than two-thirds of its 22,500 employees have security clearances. Like its peers, it has tightened internal controls in the wake of the Snowden affair, notably in the area of tackling insider threats. But these steps could face new scrutiny following Mr. Martin’s arrest.
The firm is wrestling with uncertainties over short-term government budgets and lengthier waiting periods for their employees to obtain security clearances since Mr. Snowden’s leaks three years ago.
Shares in the company slid almost 4% after the news to close at $30.31, wiping $180 million from its market value. Analysts said it was too soon to assign any permanent reputation damage from the latest events—the stock fell 7% on the day after the Snowden revelations, but quickly rebounded. The company also didn’t face any litigation or lose any business after Mr. Snowden, said Cai von Rumohr, an analyst at Cowen & Co.
米ＮＳＡの暗号持ち出しか ＦＢＩ、契約職員逮捕
（共同）
米国家安全保障局（ＮＳＡ）から外国政府のネットワークに侵入するために使う機密扱いの暗号を持ち出したとして、連邦捜査局（ＦＢＩ）が８月に窃盗容疑などでＮＳＡ契約職員の男を逮捕していたことが５日分かった。ニューヨーク・タイムズ紙電子版が報じた。
ＮＳＡを巡っては２０１３年、中央情報局（ＣＩＡ）元職員エドワード・スノーデン容疑者が機密文書を持ち出し、ＮＳＡによる個人情報収集活動を暴露。新たな機密流出発覚は、ＮＳＡやオバマ政権にとって打撃だ。
ホワイトハウスのアーネスト報道官は５日の記者会見で「オバマ大統領は深刻に受け止めている」と述べた。
男はハロルド・マーティン容疑者（５１）。スノーデン容疑者と同じく、ＮＳＡと契約するコンサルタント会社「ブーズ・アレン・ハミルトン」に勤務していた。「政府職員や契約職員による政府財産の窃盗、機密資料の無許可移動及び保有」の疑いが持たれている。ＦＢＩは自宅などへの家宅捜索で、暗号データや千ドル（約１０万円）相当の政府の備品を押収した。
暗号は「ソースコード」と呼ばれ、ロシアや中国、イラン、北朝鮮のネットワークに侵入するために作成された。
「シャドーブローカーズ」と名乗るハッカー集団が８月、ウェブサイト上でＮＳＡの暗号を公開しており、ＦＢＩが関連を調べている。