Author

If Iraq had succeeded in spray-drying anthrax spores to extend their life and lethality, that would have been among the most important secrets of its wide-ranging weapons program.

From Barton Gellman

In late 2003, the Bush administration reversed a long-standing policy requiring agents to destroy their files on innocent American citizens, companies and residents when investigations closed.

From Barton Gellman

A national security letter cannot be used to authorize eavesdropping or to read the contents of e-mail. But it does permit investigators to trace revealing paths through the private affairs of a modern digital citizen.

From Barton Gellman

On average, since 9/11, the FBI reckons that just over 100,000 terrorism leads each year have come over the transom. Analysts and agents designate them as immediate, priority or routine, but the bureau says every one is covered.

From Barton Gellman

Most people inside the bureau believe that the blown opportunities to head off 9/11 would not recur today. Even among the FBI's doubters, few disagree that the bureau has come a long way.

From Barton Gellman

The NSA's business is 'information dominance,' the use of other people's secrets to shape events.

From Barton Gellman

For months, Obama administration officials attacked Snowden's motives and said the work of the NSA was distorted by selective leaks and misinterpretations.

From Barton Gellman

Snowden grants that NSA employees by and large believe in their mission and trust the agency to handle the secrets it takes from ordinary people - deliberately, in the case of bulk records collection, and 'incidentally,' when the content of American phone calls and e-mails are swept into NSA systems along with foreign targets.

From Barton Gellman

In computer circles, any unencrypted data is known as 'cleartext.'

From Barton Gellman

CloudShield did not see itself as a cloak-and-dagger company. It made its name for high-end hardware that could peer deeply into Internet traffic and pull out and analyze 'packets' of data as they flew by.

From Barton Gellman

Barton Gellman

Notable Quotes

Authors with Similar Views

Kevin Mitnick

Michael Hayden

James Comey

Edward Snowden

Noam Chomsky

Authors with Opposing Views

Michael Hayden

Ken Olsen

Alec Baldwin

Richard Ben-Veniste

Scott McNealy