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Immuta, a data governance startup run by former US National Security Agency technicians, has announced the conclusion of its Series A funding round, pulling in $8m.

The funding round was led by Drive Capital whose partner Andy Jenks has been given a board seat with participation from Greycroft Partners and Conversion Capital. It brings the company to $9.5m in total funding.

Headquartered a short drive away from NSA offices in Fort Meade, Maryland, Immuta currently has 21 employees and is based in College Park. It was officially founded in October 2014, and first went to market in the summer of 2015.

Talking to The Register, Immuta CEO Matthew Carroll said the company aimed to answer the question: How do you have an environment in which to give data scientists the freedom to do what you want them to do, but also keep them in check?

Using Immuta, data scientists can create regulated and compliant data sandbox environments that combine disparate data sources from within and across organizations. The business claims that it supports every major structured and unstructured data source, on premises or in the cloud, including Amazon S3, SQL, NoSQL and Hadoop.

Regardless of that source, Immutas platform virtualizes the data to protect its integrity, and as a layer between the end user and the source, allows data owners to expose that data with discretion, also enabling data scientists to experiment with it without being concerned of their access rights.

Neither Carroll nor CTO Steve Touw would go into much detail about their work at the NSA, but said a lot of what were doing now is based on lessons weve learned from the trials and tribulations in government following the Snowden revelations.

Although customers in the public sector havent been announced, they are stated to include global financial institutions, telecommunications companies, and national security organizations, as well as case study user General Electric.

The startups commitment to government governance is visible in its origins and in the early hire of a chief privacy officer and legal engineer in the form of Andrew Burt, who formerly served in the FBI as special advisor for policy to the assistant director of the Fed's cyber division.

Immuta is solving one of the most acute problems that is stifling innovation at large, highly regulated enterprises. They have the teams, and the technology, but data access and usage regulations are holding back innovation, said Jenks. We invested in Immuta because their team and technology are bar none the best in the business.

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Former NSA techies raise $8m for their data governance startup ... - The Register

Top former US intel officials say Michael Flynn was the victim of a disinformation hit job by the CIA, NSA, and National Security Council

(WASHINGTON, DC) National Security Advisor Gen. Michael T. Flynn (ret.) who resigned Monday was the victim of a hit job launched by intelligence operatives, Obama government holdovers and former Obama national security officials, according to former intelligence officials who spoke withThe Daily Caller News Foundations Investigative Group.

The talk within the tight-knit community of retired intelligence officers was that Flynns sacking was a result of intelligence insiders at the CIA, NSA and National Security Council using a sophisticated disinformation campaign to create a crisis atmosphere.The former intel officers say the tactics hurled against Flynn over the last few months were the type of high profile hard-ball accusations previously reserved for top figures in enemy states, not for White House officials.

This was a hit job, charged retired Col. James Williamson, a 32-year Special Forces veteran who coordinated his operations with the intelligence community.

Noting the Obama administration first tried to silence Flynn in 2014 when the former president fired him as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Williamson called Mondays resignation, stage Two of Kill Mike Flynn.

Former intelligence officials who understand spy craft say Flynns resignation had everything to do with a disinformation campaign and little to do with the December phone conversation he had with the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

They charge officials from Americas top spy counsels leaked classified government intercepts of Flynn and President Trumps conversations with world leaders and had cutouts friendly civilians not associated with the agency to distribute them to reporters in a coordinated fashion.

The issue of leaks was a prime topic for Trump when he tweeted Wednesday, Information is being illegally given to the failing@nytimes&@washingtonpostby the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?).Just like Russia.

Ive never seen anything like this before,Retired Col. James Waurishuk, who spent three decades in top military intelligence posts and served at the National Security Council, said in an interview with TheDCNF.Weve never seen to the extent that those in the intelligence community are using intelligence apparatus and tools to be used politically against an administration official, he said.

The knives are out, said Frederick Rustmann, who retired after 24 years from the CIAs Clandestine Service and was a member of its elite Senior Intelligence Service.

The intelligence communitys sprawling bureaucracy is organizing to topple the Trump presidency, Rustmann charged in an interview with TheDCNF.

I would not be surprised if Trump did not finish four years because of the vendetta they have out for him, he said, calling the move on Flynn just a mini-vendetta.

Williamson told TheDCNF in an interview, I truly believe its orchestrated and its part of an overall strategy. The objective is to piece-by-piece, dismantle the Trump administration, to discredit Trump. This is part of an overarching plan.

D.W. Wilber, who has over 30 years of experience in security and counterterrorism with the CIA and the Defense Department agrees.

It appears to me there has been a concerted effort to try to discredit not only General Flynn, but obviously, the entire Trump administration through him. He just happened to be the first scalp, Wilber told TheDCNF in an interview.

Williamson agreed, telling theDCNF, There are individuals who are well versed in information operations we used to call that propaganda. They know how to do it. Its deliberately orchestrated.

Retired Marine Col. Bill Cowan, who often interacted with the intelligence operatives in combat zones, believes Mike Pompeo, Trumps new CIA Director, must clean house. Otherwise,the administration will encounter four years of attacks.

The director, Pompeo, if he doesnt get a hold of the agency and its personnel, he can expect four years of this: clandestine, undercover disinformation, misinformation, psychological information to undermine this administration and this president, he told TheDCNF.

Charles Goslin, a 27-year old former CIA operations officer also believes that many insubordinate intelligence staff are working within the National Security Council within the White House.

With the NSC, I think thats where the leaks are coming from on calls to foreign leaders. Thats where they undermined Flynn to the point where he got hammered, Goslin told TheDCNF in an interview.

Goslin noted, When Trump came in, even though they were able to staff key NSC positions, for the most part its still staffed by previous administration holdovers and bureaucratic appointees.

I dont think they have any loyalty to the current administration, the former CIA operations officer said, adding, the NSC is going to be a hard one to fix.

All of the former intelligence officials say the rage against Flynn dated back to when the decorated general headed up the DIA. There he garnered a reputation to balk at the politicization of military intelligence in order to conform with President Obamas world views.

Flynn refused to downplay the threat posed by the Islamic State and other radical Islamic groups throughout his two-year reign at the DIA. He was fired after offering congressional testimony that was at odds with the Obama administrations posture on the Islamic threat.

Waurishuk, who interacted with Flynn as deputy director of the Special Operations Command and in other security matters, said Flynn was a straight shooter who always demanded accurate threat assessments and never bent to continue pressures of political correctness.

Waurishuk worked in military intelligence in the Obama administration. He told TheDCNF Obama officials know Flynn and they hate Flynn because he would call them out. So, this was their opportunity to wage what is a personal vendetta in some respects.

California Republican Rep. Devon Nunes, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has promised to hold hearings on the leaking of classified information to reporters. Thedate has yet to beset for the hearings.

Daily Caller copy, TRUNEWS analysis

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Former intel chiefs: Flynn destroyed by CIA/NSA hit job - TRUNEWS

A Maryland Democrat has invited President Trump to tour the National Security Agency to become better acquainted with its mission and workers, after Trump questioned the intelligence community's loyalty to the American people amid a series of leaks.

In a letter to Trump, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger wrote Thursday he thinks it's "critical" for the president to witness the work of the "dedicated men and women do every day to protect our soldiers on the battlefield, as well as everyday Americans" who work at NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Md., which is in Ruppersberger's district.

Responding to intelligence agency leaks that led to the resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn on Monday, Trump criticized the integrity of the Federal Bureau of Intelligence and the NSA, calling them "un-American" and suggesting that "they act just like Russia."

"I am confident this will give you a new understanding and appreciation of the essential services provided by our intelligence workers," Ruppersberger wrote. "As commander in chief, it is imperative you avail yourself the opportunity to experience the mission of the NSA up close and personally."

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The president is also reportedly looking to hire billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg, a co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, to lead an investigation into the leaks, according to a report.

Ruppersberger said he found these reports "alarming."

"Today's report that you plan to assign a friend with almost no national security experience to review our intelligence agencies is simply the colloquial straw that broke the camel's back," Ruppersberger wrote. "If you follow through with this effort, I fear it will greatly damage our intelligence community's required independence and stifle the exchange of sensitive information that may conflict with your policy positions."

Top Story

Trump's aggressive stance toward the media and freewheeling campaign style is back.

02/16/17 1:18 PM

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Democrat invites Trump to tour NSA after he called it 'un-American' - Washington Examiner

A former National Security Agency contractor accused of stealing a huge cache of classified documents pleaded not guilty Tuesday to spying charges in federal court in Baltimore.

Harold T. Martin III was indicted last week by a federal grand jury, accused of violating the Espionage Act by carrying out what officials say is the largest theft of classified information in U.S. history.

Martin, 52, was arrested in August at his home in Anne Arundel County, Md., where law enforcement officials recovered dozens of computers, digital storage devices and thousands of hard-copy documents that filled six bankers boxes. Prosecutors say Martin hid classified and top-secret information in the trunk of his car, his home office and an unlocked outdoor shed.

In a brief court appearance Tuesday, Martin told Magistrate Judge A. David Copperthite that he understood the significance of the indictment charging him with taking and retaining a huge amount of classified material. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 10years for each of 20 criminal counts.

If the case goes to trial, prosecutors said they expect it would last three to four weeks.

Martin, who has been held in a detention facility since his arrest and was dressed Tuesday in a black-and-white striped uniform, is not accused of trying to disseminate or publish the information he is accused of stealing.

Hes not Edward Snowden, Martins attorney James Wyda said during an earlier detention hearing, referring to the former intelligence contractor who gave classified material on U.S. surveillance programs to the media.

Hes not someone who, due to political ideas or philosophical ideas or moral principles, thinks he knows better than everybody else and, hence, is compelled to release government secrets, Wyda said.

Martins attorneys have previously said he took documents home not to harm the United States but to get better at his job. Martin has a compulsive hoarding habit, his attorneys said, and was taking medication for attention-deficit disorder that was a trigger for hoarding.

Martin first received security clearance on active duty in the Navy. He went on to work for seven private companies at various agencies within the intelligence community, including the CIA, the U.S. Cyber Command and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

He was a trusted insider, prosecutors said, working at the NSA from 2012 to 2015, where he was an employee of the intelligence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Martin was for some time in the NSAs elite hacker unit, Tailored Access Operations, which makes and deploys software used to penetrate foreign targets computer networks for foreign espionage purposes.

At the time of his arrest, Martin was enrolled in a doctorate program in information security management and doing research for his dissertation. He has an extensive background in computer security, including in the areas of encryption and secure communications.

Many of the documents Martin is accused of stealing were marked top-secret and contained highly classified information, including the names of intelligence officers who operate undercover outside the United States, according to the 12-page indictment. Among other secret documents, authorities found an NSA anti-terrorism document related to extremely sensitive U.S. planning and operations regarding global terrorists, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors described the theft in court filings as breathtaking in its longevity and scale.

Harold Martin flagrantly abused the trust placed in him by the government by stealing documents containing highly classified information, Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement after the indictment was returned last week.

Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.

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Ex-NSA contractor pleads not guilty to spying charges in federal court - Washington Post

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly (L), National Security Advisor General Mike Flynn (C), and Keith Alexander wait for a meeting on cyber security in the Roosevelt Room of the White House January 31, 2017 in Washington, D.C.Photograph by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIAFP/Getty Images

President Trump's early tenure has been marked by reports of slipshod cybersecurity practices, and dysfunction among the country's intelligence agencies. But behind the scenes, Trump has shown he is attuned to hacking threats, and prepared to defend the U.S. in cyber-space, according to the former head of the National Security Agency.

Speaking at a breakfast in San Francisco on Tuesday morning, retired General Keith Alexander described a recent meeting at which the President discussed cybersecurity issues with members of his inner circle. According to Alexander, Trump's behavior shifted significantly once members of the media left the event.

The Presidents demeanor changed to what you would expect of a corporate CEO," said Alexander. "The part that struck me was he listened. He took what they said, restated it, went on to next thing and allowed everyone to talk."

The gathering reportedly included Trump, adviser Jared Kushner, Defense Secretary James Mattis, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and others.

Alexander also said Trump's comportment in the meeting was "the president our nation needs to see," and expressed confidence Trump would be able to develop a comprehensive strategy to combat cyber threats.

The remarks come at a time of ongoing tumult among White House security staffmost notably the sudden resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn on Mondayand are at odds with earlier news reports that portrayed Trump as sometimes cavalier about what he famously called "the cyber" in a presidential debate last fall.

On the question of Flynn's resignation, Alexander said he was not aware of what occurred behind the scenes, only stating he was sure the White House had good reasons to back the departure.

Alexander's assessment of Trump and cybersecurity is significant in part because as the former head of the country's top spy agency, he presided over a controversial set of intelligence gathering techniques that were exposed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013.

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In addressing the breakfast, hosted by the State of Maryland during the RSA security conference, Alexander also spoke about the challenge of balancing privacy and security, and the wisdom of "hacking back" against other countries.

The pervasive hacking conducted by countries like North Korea and China is a source of ongoing frustration for companies, and has led some to suggest the private sector should retaliate with cyber-attacks of their own.

Alexander, however, believes such retaliation is possible but ill-advised. Using Sony ( sne ) as an example, he explained could easily avenge North Korea's devastating attack of 2014 by "hacking back," perhaps with the discreet aid of U.S. defense contractors.

"Youd kick North Korea's buttwipe out their seven computers and we would be done with it," he said about a hypothetical Sony counter-strike. But heres the problem. North Korea assumes its a government attack and they escalate. They throw artillery into Seoul and we've started a land war on the Korean peninsula, even if it started with a company trying to protect themselves.

Instead of companies taking cyber retaliation into their own hands, Alexander instead argues it's the government's job to address these issues as part of its larger mandate to defend the United States. He said this should include assistance to build "cyber domes" across key industrial sectors, and "network speed" threat coordination between government and the private sector.

Cyber has become an element of national power," he said, alongside traditional diplomatic, military, and economic initiatives.

One of the most difficult cybersecurity tasks for the Trump administration will be how to address a new generation of device and communication tools that are all but impossible to spy on. Fueled in part by Edward Snowden's revelations, Apple ( aapl ) and other companies began introducing encryption features that can't be broken by law enforcement or even accessed by the companies themselves.

Last spring, encryption was at the heart of a hugely publicized court fight between Apple and the FBI, which sought access to a locked iPhone owned by a terrorist responsible for the San Bernardino massacre. (The stand-off ended abruptly after the FBI succeeded in unlocking the iPhone on its own account, but the issue is likely to return again soon in light of newer versions of the iPhone with even stronger security measures).

According to Alexander, the trouble with ubiquitous encryption is that terrorists can plan in perfect secrecy. Alexander cited a 2009 plot to blow up the New York City subway that was foiled after intelligence agencies intercepted an emailsomething that would not have been possible if the plotters had used today's encryption tools, he noted.

Any solution that gives spy services a window into encrypted communication is problematic, however, because it can involve weakening the overall security of a device or messaging service. Such an outcomeespecially in the form of a "back door" that lets law enforcement get around encryptionis fiercely opposed by the tech community, which points out any such back door will also be exploited by criminals or repressive governments.

Alexander acknowledged this tension, but did not offer a specific solution.

"Im not for back doors but I dont buy the fact we cant [have both privacy and security]," Alexander said. "We have to drive two groups together and force them to work on this. I dont think we should accept fact people die because were intractable."

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Donald Trump on Top of Cyber Threats, Former NSA Head ... - Fortune - Fortune