CIA officer jailed 40yrs for spying, and child porn
Published on: Saturday, February 03, 2024
By:
Bernama, AFP
From 2012 to 2016, Schulte (inset) was employed as a software developer in the Centre for Cyber Intelligence (CCI). In 2016, he used his access to steal copies of the entire CCI tool development archives and then transmitted them to WikiLeaks.
WASHINGTON: A federal judge has sentenced former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer Joshua Adam Schulte to 40 years in jail for the biggest data breach in the agency’s history, espionage and child pornography, the Department of Justice announced in a press release, reported Sputnik.
“… Schulte was sentenced to 40 years in prison by US District Judge Jesse Furman for crimes of espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI, and child pornography,” the release said.
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Schulte was convicted in trials that concluded on March 9, 2020, and Sept 13, 2022, the Justice Department said.
“Schulte’s theft is the largest data breach in the history of the CIA, and his transmission of that stolen information to Wikileaks is one of the largest unauthorised disclosures of classified information in the history of the United States,” the release said.
According to court documents, from 2012 to 2016, Schulte was employed as a software developer in the Centre for Cyber Intelligence (CCI).
In 2016, Schulte used his access to steal copies of the entire CCI tool development archives and then transmitted them to WikiLeaks. The effect was described at trial by the former CIA deputy director of Digital Innovation as a “digital Pearl Harbour” that caused exceptionally grave harm to the national security of the US, the release said.
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“On April 20, 2016, after other developers had left the CCI office, Schulte used his secret server administrator session to execute a series of cyber-maneuvers on the CIA network to restore his revoked privileges, break in to the backups, steal copies of the entire CCI tool development archives (the “Stolen CIA Files”), revert the network back to its prior state, and delete hundreds of log files in an attempt to cover his tracks.
Schulte’s theft of the Stolen CIA Files is the largest data breach in CIA history,” the release read.
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In addition to espionage, there were the gigabytes of illegal images of children (pornography) which Schulte maintained on his personal computer at his residence.
Indeed during discovery, when he was ordered not to manipulate the computer, he created a 15 gigabyte hard drive and loaded more images to it.
There were letters of support provided to the court and the CIA provided a classified document and an unclassified letter to the court describing the depth of the damage which occurred at Schulte’s hand. The classified letter, according to the Judge, placed the cost of Schulte’s compromise at more than $300 million.
In addition, to revealing the classified capabilities of the United States in the cyber domain, Schulte’s revelations “profoundly damaged the CIA’s ability to collect foreign intelligence against America’s adversaries; placed CIA personnel, programs, and assets directly at risk.”
Judge Furman acknowledge the family’s letters of support, and noted that they spoke of him as a patriot, yet ignored what Schulte did. Clearance Jobs has reviewed the letters from family, they were indeed poignant and heartfelt. Judge Furman noted that there is a lot the family was unaware of concerning Joshua Schulte.
Judge Furman, then reminded all, that the public must be protected from Schulte. While the judge opted not to impose the life sentence which had been requested by the prosecutors and instead acknowledged the six years of Special Administrative Measures were harsh and justified the decision.
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