... if Bradley Manning is the culprit...
Marc Armbinder walks us through the process of gaining access to the information Manning alleged accessed and turned over to WikiLeaks. "Reviews of protocols" are taking place now, and "insider threat groups" mobilized. But it comes down to Bradley Manning, or someone like Bradley Manning who was interested but who didn't need to be all that smart.
...The tension between access, which is critical for tactical intelligence, and operational security, which is critical for protecting secrets, is tight. In wartime, the number of young, fresh-out-of-school analysts granted security clearances skyrockets as demand for intelligence increases exponentially. In this instance, if Manning is indeed the culprit, all it took was one disaffected young man with a rudimentary knowledge of computer systems to bring down an entire edifice of code names, secret networks, compartmented channels, and protected information.
Hackers, like suicide bombers and other phenomena of the age, will always be a step ahead of the law. That's probably a good thing when we look at the quality of some governments that enforce the law. There are undoubtedly many good people in America who have more respect for the whistleblower than we for the cover-blown.
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