NSA Launched 4,000 Probes For Suspicious Employee Activities

National Security Agency (NSA) documents obtained by the Washington Post reveal that last year the NSA planned to open at least 4,000 probes into suspicious or abnormal staff activity “after scrutinizing trillions of employee keystrokes at work.”

The Post obtained the documents from NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

Activities like downloading multiple documents or tapping classified databases triggered the probes.

The documents also revealed that individuals with terrorist links are applying for jobs at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

“The CIA found that among a subset of job seekers whose backgrounds raised questions, roughly one out of every five had ‘significant terrorist and/or hostile intelligence connections,'” the Post reported. Among the groups most frequently cited were al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas.

NSA spokesperson Vanee Vines says the NSA remains committed to eliminating internal security risks and threats.

“In FY 2013, NSA planned to initiate 4,000 re-investigations on civilian employees to reduce the potential ofan insider compromise of sensitive information and missions,” said Vines. “Periodic re-investigations are conducted as onedue-diligence component of our multifaceted insider threat program.”