Edward Snowden was wanted by the FBI for several days before the former contractor leaked documents about the US government’s secret surveillance programs.
Snowden has admitted to providing media organizations with details of the top secret programs. He worked at a Hawaii facility run by the National Security Agency (NSA) for four weeks before rpeortedly calling in ill to work.
But the contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton failed to show up for work again. Snowden’s employer searched for him first , but the company was eventually aided by the US government.
One report has added that Snowden was called a very gifted “geek” by his colleagues, who added, “This guy’s really good with his fingers on the keyboard. He’s really good.
As a systems administrator, Edward Snowden was given wide access to servers that contained the NSA’s classified information, along with possibly other US intelligence agencies.
While US officials are not yet sure what information Edward Snowden had access to, or the extent to which he probed the intelligence databases for information. They also do not know what secrets he may have downloaded before he left the United States for Hong Kong.
Snowden also claimed, “I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authority to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge, to even the President.” Despite this, experts believe Snowden was not able to actively spy on people.
The 29-year-old joined Booz Allen in April, but he already had a Top Secret clearance that probably stemmed from his previous job at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He attended training sessions for his first week or two with the company. After that, he left for Hawaii.
Snowden reportedly claimed to be suffering from epilepsy when his employer called to ask how he was doing. But he failed to return after a long period of time and the company was unable to find him. Booz Allen notified intelligence officials, who began the search for him, because he holds such high security clearance.
But the FBI and other government agencies were not able to find Edward Snowden, despite several days of searching. While they learned of the leaks in The Guardian last week, it wasn’t until the whistleblower came forward on Sunday that they realized the source of the leaks.
While Booz Allen has announced it fired Edward Snowden for violating the company’s “code of ethics and firm policy,” there has been no further comments.