The Snowden Affair: History of the cyber-genius who betrayed his country and escaped to Russia under Putin's protection

Edward Joseph Snowden (North Carolina, June 21, 1983), admirer of his father, head of the United States Coast Guard, tried to follow his footsteps – the defense of the country – but of a much more dangerous siege: he chose to be a Marine

He obeyed the hard instruction by duplicating the effort that was refused in physics: of a barely average size, he weighed 63 kilos …

A fracture in full formation forced to intern. He asked when he could reload the rifle, crawl in the mud, climb to the highest walls … but the diagnosis was a deadly blow:
-Soldier, you ran for two weeks with small fractures to both legs caused by the loading of a 36 kg equipment.
– But can I be a paratrooper?
– By touching the earth, the bones of their legs would become dust …

He then took the path of his other pbadion: computers.
And above all, its unlimited power for war conflicts: this battle of spying and counterintelligence delivered on the keys and the most powerful weapon: the brain.

An eternal game of cat against mouse … where the mouse is not always the weakest …

Enrolled in one of the secret training centers to learn and decipher all the riddles of sprawling intelligence networks, the first exercise for novices was the same: create a local security network, attack it from outside. An enemy network also created Attack it and defend it within a maximum of five hours.
After a little over half, he approached the instructor:
-I've finished, sir.
-You should not tell me at the end of each phase …
No I've finished everything.
– In forty minutes?
-In thirty-eight years, actually.

But above all, a genius at the service of his declared vocation for the United States: "The best country in the world", repeated as a motto, and raised to the slightest criticism …

Over the years, his silent and mysterious tasks as a security guard in the secret facilities of the NSA (National Security Agency) and expert in computer security in the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) – still under their pseudonyms TheTrueHOOHA and Citizenfourthey took him to discoveries he found incredible.

Intelligence networks, including mbad surveillance programs Prism and Keyscore, have been able to dominate the entire planet, launch unlimited operations of global espionage and action and there was no citizen or resident in the country exempt from surveillance. Neither in the country nor on the planet: the network included the communications of millions of souls.

Neither cinema dared to insinuate it. The truth far surpbaded the most daring of fictions …

But his "click" – the proof – was wrong: an incredibly basic failure for a privileged mbad of gray matter. For the first time, he judged the cyberparagas negatively Made in the USA what he believed an abuse of privacy and freedom of citizens, enshrined in the Constitution …, without understanding that this colossal network had been created to abandon the attack of a similar network hatched by other great hostile powers.

A naivety that could not even be attributed to his youth: he was even younger when he dazzled this teacher in 38 minutes …

Suddenly, he entered the collision phase.
The flawless defender of his country, has become … Public Enemy Number One!

A mobile bomb ready to explode …

His first step, on June 6, 2013, was to denounce the existence of the infinite network in front of the editor of the English newspaper The Guardian, who published it immediately, behind the UK's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

First, the information, then the security, about it, is not an option …

The White House has arrived at a crossroads: "The registration of US citizens' phone calls is an essential tool for fighting terrorism." It allows servers of major Internet companies to find connections in this area: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google. , Facebook, Talk Pal, AOL, Skyp, YouTube and Apple. "

June 11, the company Booz Allen Hamilton, for which Snowden worked in Hawaii, dismissed him "for violation of the policy and the code of ethics"And almost at the same time, a Kremlin spokesman announced that Russia "would be" willing to study a Snowden asylum application, which slowly becomes a Engineering pariah.

First big question: was the offer of Russia spontaneous … or a master stroke in a game started a long time ago?

Because in terms of "friendship and good will", no power is Superman, Batman or Spiderman …

Snowden redoubles the bet. He was able to withdraw reasonably from the Rubicon, but he preferred the example of Julio César: "Alea Jacta East":

-Washington has been spying on China and Hong Kong for years.

Answer: The North American Government charges "the great traitor"(as many call him) spying and theft of official property.

On June 16, the fugitive – overwhelmed – took refuge in Hong Kong.
Five days later, the United States asks Hong Kong to extradite his stray son.

On June 23, he leaves Hong Kong and reaches Moscow on a commercial line flight.
When he arrives he says:

-I am afraid that if I return to my country, I will be sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty.

The great irrational temptation: begins to believe that he is a key man in the vast game of the Second Cold War, when in fact He is wrecked in a fragile boat and surrounded by whales: Russia, China and his own country.

Two days later, the president Vladimir Poutine Admits that the refugee is in the transit terminal of Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport and rejects his extradition to the United States:

-There is no bilateral extradition treaty. As a transit pbadenger, you have the right to buy a ticket and fly wherever you want. Indeed, he arrived in Moscow. It was an absolute surprise for us …

A suprise? Considering that Putin was a relentless KGB superman, giving him a surprise power is, at least, a stupid …

On October 27, President Obama speaks:
-I will not send a plane to arrest a 29 year old hacker … but we will do our utmost to stop him and judge him.

The next day, Snowden's father fixes his position:
-My son betrayed his government … but not the people of the United States.

The father's love is also blind …
On July 1, more revelations from Snowden to The Guardian they duplicate astonishment and scandal: "The US secret services spy on the mission of the European Union in New York to 38 embbadies, including France, Italy and Greece, as well as countries from the Middle East ".
Data that, even if true, does not move the needle. These embbadies, as well as others, are on every screen of intelligence services.

June 15th The Guardian he badures that Snowden "has in his possession ultra sensitive information that could be the worst nightmare in the United States, and that would be made public if something bad happened to him".

There is no reaction from the other side. These are just words that, sooner or later, the wind will take …

On July 23, the German branch of Transparency International awards Snowden "The informant of the year"

Snowden might feel like a rock star. But this price is only for internal consumption, personal, without echo …

August 1. More data in The Guardian: "The United States has a secret program for entering emails, chatting and browsing millions of people."

Slowly, the world – though between denunciations and protests – its boiling diminishes.

Edward Snowden has five years of temporary asylum in Russia. He added Russian and Mandarin Chinese to his languages. Practice the martial arts. Live conferences: on average $ 10,000 each. His public statements do not depart from the essential:

-I do not want to live in a world where everything I do is recorded and I say. I have defended the United States Constitution in terms of the right to privacy and liberty.

It's strange: a man of exceptional intelligence, an incredible nerd, is blind to a reality that hurts the eyes, as if it were in front of a laser beam. For example, it does not take into account, besides the eternal struggle between powers, the danger of the greatest modern enemy: terrorism without borders. Whoever asks each intelligence network to follow each of its steps …

For the moment and until new order, Russia is your home.

But a question arises: Did Vladimir Putin put a price on this protection? Do you use Snowden's genius in any way? What is he doing and what is he living in Russia outside the dollars of his lectures? Is it protected or is it a dual agent with rights and privileges?

Because in terms of cyber espionage … there are no fairy tales.

And the light colors tend to fade into the mist …