[Infowarrior] - No, Snowden’s Leaks Didn’t Help The Terrorists

[Richard Forno]

No, Snowden’s Leaks Didn’t Help The Terrorists

By Murtaza Hussain
@mazmhussain
Today at 1:57 PM

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/16/snowdens-leaks-didnt-help-terrorists/

Did Edward Snowden’s revelations on NSA surveillance compromise the ability of intelligence agencies to monitor terrorist groups? Contrary to lurid claims made by U.S. officials, a new independent analysis of the subject says no. As reported by NBC:

“.…Flashpoint Global Partners, a private security firm, examined the frequency of releases and updates of encryption software by jihadi groups….. It found no correlation in either measure to Snowden’s leaks about the NSA’s surveillance techniques, which became public beginning June 5, 2013.”

The report itself goes on to make the point that, “Well prior to Edward Snowden, online jihadists were already aware that law enforcement and intelligence agencies were attempting to monitor them.” This point would seem obvious in light of the fact that terrorist groups have been employing tactics to evade digital surveillance for years. Indeed, such concerns about their use of sophisticated encryption technology predate even 9/11. Contrary to claims that such groups have fundamentally altered their practices due to information gleaned from these revelations, the report concludes. “The underlying public encryption methods employed by online jihadists do not appear to have significantly changed since the emergence of Edward Snowden.”

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Snowden’s critics have accused his actions of contributing from everything from the rise of ISIS to Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. Seemingly every possible failure of the U.S. intelligence community has been attributed back to his disclosures, yet upon further analysis these allegations have always been revealed to be unfounded. Now, in an attempt to both build consensus for a new conflict in Iraq and distract from the ongoing erosion of domestic civil liberties, it is again being insinuated that his revelations have aided terrorists and made the United States less secure.

This most recent study is the most comprehensive repudiation of these charges to date. Contrary to lurid claims to the contrary, the facts demonstrate that terrorist organizations have not benefited from the NSA revelations, nor have they substantially altered their behavior in response to them.  Despite this, don’t expect to hear any change in the rhetoric of those who have been baselessly insisting otherwise.

Email the author: murtaza.hussain at theintercept.com

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