Snowden Leaks

In order to provide my own stance on the activities of the National Security Agency, it is imperative to understand how the NSA has become such a widely discussed topic around the world. Much of the controversy surrounding the NSA began with the so called Snowden leaks. Edward Snowden was a System Administrator working as a contractor for the NSA. His adamant feelings towards the NSA’s programs coupled with his clearance led to one of the worst data leaks in decades. In the year 2013, Snowden leaked sensitive documents regarding the PRISM Surveillance Program. PRISM is an NSA program focused around the collection of information on the web. The leaked documents regarding PRISM informed the connected world that the NSA had been collecting data on millions of American citizens. This in turn created mass speculation and controversy throughout the globe. Other than the issues surrounding
The Snowden leaks exposed widespread hacking attempts instigated by the NSA. A BBC article covering the Snowden leaks discusses the hacking of Chinese systems. “After fleeing to Hong Kong, Edward Snowden told the South China Morning Post that the NSA had led more than 61,000 hacking operations worldwide, including many in Hong Kong and mainland China” (BBC). While similar attacks have been led by China towards the United States, this leak caused another blow to the reputation of our country. The same article covered a UK spy agency that worked closely with the NSA in order to monitor Italian networks. “GCHQ and NSA eavesdropping on Italian phone calls and internet traffic was reported by the Italian weekly L’Espresso on 24 October. The revelations were sourced to Edward Snowden” (BBC). These controversial actions are only a portion of the leaks provided by Snowden. Regardless, each piece of information further damages the appearance of the United States on the world