The explosive leak uncovering America's vast surveillance program highlights the risks Washington takes by entrusting so much of its defense and spy work to private firms, experts said Monday.
From analyzing intelligence to training new spies, jobs that were once performed by government employees are now carried out by paid contractors, in a dramatic shift that began in the 1990s amid budget pressures.
Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old man whose leak uncovered how spy agencies sift through phone records and Internet traffic, is among a legion of private contractors who make up nearly 30 percent of the workforce in intelligence agencies.
After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the use of contractors boomed, as government agencies turned to private firms in the global hunt for terror suspects, touting it as a cost-effective way to avoid a permanent increase in the number of civil servants.
As a "contractor alley" rose in the suburbs of northern Virginia outside Washington, the increasing reliance on contractors by the Pentagon and spy services has often been criticized as wasteful and possibly corrupt.
But some former intelligence officers and experts warn that it also opens up the spy agencies to big security risks.
The contractors who wear a "green badge" to enter government offices may lack the ethos and discretion of career intelligence officers who wear the "blue badge," according to John Schindler, a former analyst at the National Security Agency and counterintelligence officer.
In a series of tweets, Schindler, who now teaches at the Naval War College, heaped scorn on Snowden for spilling secrets.
But he said it was not surprising the disclosure came from a "green badge" holder and suggested sensitive information technology jobs should not be contracted out.
"Been telling my CI (counter intelligence) peeps for years that NSA & IC (intelligence community) only 1 disgruntled, maladjusted IT dork away from disaster (esp IT contractor)...oh well," he wrote.
Systems administrators are the 21st century equivalent of the Cold War-era "code clerks," he said, as they may not hold a high rank but have access to vital information.
Most contractors are former military or intelligence officers, and America's top spy chief, James Clapper, once worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, the same firm that employed Snowden. Another former national intelligence director, Michael McConnell, also worked at the firm before and after holding the director's post.
Booz Allen has profited heavily from intelligence work, reportedly earning $1.3 billion or 23 percent of its total revenue from contracts with spy agencies.
Former CIA director and defense secretary Robert Gates has voiced concern that too much sensitive work has been farmed out to private companies.
"You want somebody who's really in it for a career because they're passionate about it and because they care about the country and not just because of the money," he told the Washington Post in 2010.
A special website lists job openings for those with security credentials, clearancejobs.com, with positions advertised such as "Intelligence Analyst 3/Targeter" for Northrop Grumman.
"The primary function of a Specialized Skills Officer is to collaborate with a team of intelligence professionals in support of HUMINT operations against priority targets," said the notice for a workplace in McLean, Virgina.
But the threat of damaging leaks may have less to do with a dependence on contractors and more to do with a younger generation's distrust of Washington, said James Lewis, a former senior official and cyber security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Private contracting does not in and itself pose a serious threat to keeping secrets, Lewis told AFP.
"It's a risk because of the differing attitudes of generations," he said.
"People who haven't been in the federal service for a long time, who have this view of government shaped by the popular culture are probably more inclined to do this."
He noted that the most extensive leak of US classified documents came not from a contractor but a low-ranking soldier in the US Army, Private Bradley Manning, who is on trial on espionage charges after admitting to handing over hundreds of thousands of secret files to the WikiLeaks website.
AFP
Mon Jun 10 2013
Isu terpalit FAM tak jejas Harimau Malaya - Faisal
Faisal sifatkan barisan pemain skuad kebangsaan tidak terjejas dengan isu yang terpalit Persatuan Bolasepak Malaysia (FAM) baru-baru ini.
Kenaikan gaji: Tingkat produktiviti, kecekapan penyampaian perkhidmatan kepada rakyat - KPPA
Semua anggota perkhidmatan awam perlu meningkatkan produktiviti dan kecekapan dalam menyampaikan perkhidmatan kepada rakyat seiring pengumuman kenaikan gaji.
Johor bakal anjur acara sukan bertaraf antarabangsa
Kerajaan Johor akan menganjurkan beberapa acara bertaraf antarabangsa tahun ini dalam menjadikan negeri itu sebagai destinasi pelancongan sukan.
Turkiye sertai Afrika Selatan tuduh Israel di ICJ
Turkiye akan menyerahkan pengisytiharan campur tangan rasmi kepada ICJ dengan objektif membantu mempercepatkan tindakan ke atas Israel.
Asmaa berjalan kaki berjam lamanya demi roti
Situasi di Gaza jauh berbeza dengan tempat-tempat lain. Bangunan musnah, ditambah ketiadaan sumber asas - tempat tinggal, bekalan air serta makanan...pastinya terlintas di fikiran bagaimana kehidupan seharian mereka di saat nyawa sentiasa menjadi ancaman. Menyelami kehidupan masyarakat Palestin di Gaza, ada yang terpaksa berjalan berjam-jam lamanya ke satu tempat untuk mendapatkan alas perut buat keluarga.
'Puluhan ribu gugur terkena mesin perang Zionis'
Masa yang sepatutnya diguna untuk meraikan sambutan Hari Pekerja Sedunia diganti dengan himpunan untuk menunjukkan tanda bersolidariti dengan rakyat Palestin. Itu yang berlaku di Tunisia yang mana ribuan rakyatnya berhimpun di ibu negara Tunis sebagai tanda sokongan terhadap penduduk Gaza dengan memanggil himpunan sebagai 'May Day'.
Lebuh raya runtuh, 24 maut
Menurut CCTV, pihak berkuasa China menghantar kira-kira 500 anggota penyelamat ke lokasi insiden.
TPM yakin produktiviti akan meningkat seiring kenaikan gaji
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yakin produktiviti dan prestasi penjawat awam akan dilipatgandakan seiring dengan keputusan Kerajaan menaikkan gaji kumpulan itu melebihi 13% bermula 1 Disember ini.
Ancaman bom palsu cetus panik di 100 sekolah di India
Ancaman bom palsu telah mencetuskan panik di sekolah di ibu negara India pada pagi Rabu dengan ibu bapa bergegas membawa pulang anak-anak mereka.
Anak muda bangkit gesa pemimpin buat pendirian tetap
Anak muda mula menunjukkan semangat kebangkitan tatkala dunia masih celaru untuk menghentikan kehilangan nyawa berterusan rakyat Palestin di Gaza. Suara yang diketepi diakhiri dengan protes besar-besar yang menjadi polemik dalam kalangan mahasiswa di Amerika Syarikat ketika ini.
Jauhi Facebook, Dropbox dan Google - Edward Snowden
Snowden yang kerap menggemparkan dunia dengan isu kerahsiaan maklumat menasihatkan pengguna supaya menjauhi perkhidmatan internet yang popular seperti Dropbox, Facebook dan Google.
Snowden mohon suaka politik di Ecuador
Bekas kontraktor Agensi Keselamatan Amerika Syarikat (NSA), Edward Snowden suspek dikehendaki Washington memohon suaka politik di Ecuador.