A National Security Agency contractor was secretly arrested by the FBI two months ago on charges that he stole highly classified computer codes from the agency.
The New York Times reported on Oct. 5 that Harold T. Martin III, 51, of Glen Burnie, Maryland — a Booz Allen Hamilton contractor working at the NSA — was charged on Aug. 29 with theft of government property and unauthorized removal or retention of classified documents.
Booz Allen Hamilton, the Tyson’s Corner, Virginia-based management consulting firm, also previously employed Edward Snowden, who infamously leaked a treasure trove of information about classified NSA surveillance programs in 2013.
The Department of Justice said in a release that Martin was arrested Aug. 27 at his Maryland home, where investigators found both digital and hard copies of “Top Secret and Sensitive Compartmented Information,” containing highly classified information.
The Times reported that Martin had allegedly taken NSA-designed “source code” used to break into the networks of foreign countries and that there were suspicions that some of his alleged thefts pre-date Snowden’s public disclosure of agency programs.
Martin was charged in United States District Court in Baltimore and DOJ officials said among the recovered items were “six classified documents obtained from sensitive intelligence and produced by a government agency in 2014.”
“These documents were produced through sensitive government sources, methods and capabilities, which are critical to a wide variety of national security issues,” DOJ said in a statement. “The disclosure of the documents would reveal those sensitive sources, methods and capabilities.”
Speculation abounds on whether Martin’s arrest is linked to the August leak of hacking and surveillance tools by a group called the Shadow Brokers. The leaked tools reportedly date to 2013.
Martin faces up to a year from removing the classified material and 10 years for the theft of government property.
Martin also lost his job shortly after being arrested, Craig Veith, Booz Allen vice president of external communications, told Federal Times in a statement.
“We continue to cooperate fully with the government on its investigation into this serious matter,” Veith added. “Booz Allen is a 102-year-old company and the alleged conduct does not reflect our core values. Our employees continue to support critical client missions with dedication and excellence each day. Their professionalism, values and ethics are what define our firm.”
