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A National Security Agency contractor has been slapped with a 13-month sentence in federal prison after she was found guilty of bilking the government for hundreds of hours of in-person work she never performed.

Jacky McComber was also ordered to pay back $176,913 to the government.

Her case became a cause celebre at the intersection of the contracting and intelligence worlds, given the brazenness of the allegations and some of the vitriol involved.

Prosecutors said McCombers company, InfoTeK, billed the government for more than 2,600 hours of work on a contract that, because of the top-secret nature of the NSA, had to be done in person.

But over a 19-month period, she wasnt actually at the NSA for 90% of those hours, prosecutors said.

Even when she claimed to be working remotely, she was often AWOL. One time, when she billed the government for an eight-hour day, she was playing in a charity golf tournament. Another time, she attended her high school reunion. And another time, she was vacationing in Ocean City, Maryland.

At trial, she was convicted of fraud and of lying to cover it up.

After her conviction, she yelled at prosecutors to rot in hell, the government said.

McComber cast herself as a pioneering entrepreneur, a woman in a hard-to-crack field who was laid low by an angry ex-husband and lingering trauma from her childhood.

Her lawyers had asked the judge for leniency, saying her crimes werent severe.

There were no individual victims. It did not cause any person to suffer substantial personal hardship, the defense lawyers said.

They also argued that McComber had suffered in the wake of the case, losing her business and future opportunities. And they said the deterrent effect of the case has already been carried out, given its notoriety in the contracting world.

Ms. McComber is 51 years old, and this criminal conviction is her first. Her conviction precludes her from future contracting with the government, making it highly unlikely that she will be able to attain another position that will allow her to commit a similar crime, the defense lawyers said.

They had suggested the judge give her probation with perhaps the first three months served in home confinement.

Prosecutors had asked for at least 51 months in prison.

U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander delivered the 13-month sentence.

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NSA contractor bilked government for hundreds of hours she never worked - Washington Times

Eleven years ago Edward Snowden, a disgruntled contractor working for the National Security Agency (nsa), Americas signals-intelligence (sigint) service, fled to Hong Kong then Russia and revealed that America and its allies were sweeping up much of the worlds communications. Intelligence agencies warned that his disclosure would have dire consequences, as enemies found other ways to communicate. In the end it was not as bad as feared. Agencies could no longer access all of the data they needed to see, or had access to before, writes Ciaran Martin, then a senior official at gchq, Britains sigint agency. But they could still get lots, he notes. Indeed, enough to provide American sigint with the lions share of intelligence, including intercepts of communications, that showed in 2021 that Russia was planning to invade Ukraine, and how it planned to do so.

In the past two decades, sigint has been transformed. The internet took over from radio and telephone traffic in the 1990s. Now, a decade after Mr Snowden, most internet traffic is encrypted and data have pooled in new places, like the cloud. The same computer networks that ferry it about have also become integral to the physical worldfrom cars to power grids to military systemsblurring the line between cyber-espionage and cyber-attacks, and reshaping the identity of sigint agencies. But they remain extraordinary intelligence-gathering machines.

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Signals intelligence has become a cyber-activity - The Economist

1. OpenAI adds former NSA chief to its board  CNBC
2. Snowden warns Do not trust OpenAI after former NSA director appointed to board  Fortune
3. OpenAI adds former NSA chief Paul Nakasone to the board  Axios
4. OpenAI adds Trump-appointed former NSA director to its board  The Washington Post
5. OpenAI appoints former head of NSA to board; expands lobbying team globally  The Hindu
6. Edward Snowden Releases New Message: 'You Have Been Warned'  Newsweek
7. OpenAI appoints former top US cyberwarrior Paul Nakasone to its board of directors  The Associated Press
8. OpenAI Appoints Former NSA Chief Paul Nakasone to Board  Bloomberg
9. Snowden: OpenAI Hiring Former NSA Director Is 'Willful, Calculated Betrayal'  PCMag

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OpenAI adds former NSA chief to its board - CNBC

OpenAI has appointed Paul M. Nakasone, a retired general of the US Army and a former head of the National Security Agency (NSA), to its board of directors, the company announced on Thursday.

Nakasone, who was nominated to lead the NSA by former President Donald Trump, directed the agency from 2018 until February of this year. Before Nakasone left the NSA, he wrote an op-ed supporting the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the surveillance program that was ultimately reauthorized by Congress in April.

OpenAI says Nakasone will join its Safety and Security Committee, which was announced in May and is led by CEO Sam Altman, as a first priority. Nakasone will also contribute to OpenAIs efforts to better understand how AI can be used to strengthen cybersecurity by quickly detecting and responding to cybersecurity threats.

Recent departures tied to safety at OpenAI include co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who played a key role in Sam Altmans November firing and eventual un-firing, and Jan Leike, who said on X that safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to have huge positive impacts on peoples lives, but it can only meet this potential if these innovations are securely built and deployed, board chair Bret Taylor said in a statement. General Nakasones unparalleled experience in areas like cybersecurity will help guide OpenAI in achieving its mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.

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Former head of NSA joins OpenAI board - The Verge

On Thursday, OpenAI revealed that retired General Paul Nakasone, who previously led the National Security Agency, is joining its board of directors. In addition to this new position, Nakasone will be part of the boards Safety and Security Committee.

OpenAIs appointment of General Nakasone appears to be a strategic move to address the concerns in reaction to backlash by critics. These critics argue that OpenAI is advancing too rapidly, releasing models and services without properly assessing potential risks or implementing necessary safeguarding measures. By bringing in a high-profile figure like Nakasone, OpenAI aims to demonstrate its commitment to evaluating and mitigating risks associated with its technology.

With decades of experience from his tenure in the Army, U.S. Cyber Command, and the NSA, Nakasone brings strong credentials. Despite the opinions on the operations of these agencies, his depth of experience in cybersecurity and intelligence speaks for itself.

Bret Taylor, chair of OpenAIs board, said, Artificial Intelligence has the potential to have huge positive impacts on peoples lives, but it can only meet this potential if these innovations are securely built and deployed. General Nakasones unparalleled experience in areas like cybersecurity will help guide OpenAI in achieving its mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.

General Nakasone shared his thoughts on joining the board, saying, OpenAIs dedication to its mission aligns closely with my own values and experience in public service. I look forward to contributing to OpenAIs efforts to ensure artificial general intelligence is safe and beneficial to people around the world.

Nakasone will become a member of OpenAIs Safety and Security Committee, tasked with advising the board on key safety and security issues related to the companys projects and operations. However, the specific functions and operational details of this newly established committee remain undefined. Adding to the uncertainty is the recent departures of key safety experts and a current 90-day assessment by the committee into OpenAIs operational protocols and safety measures.

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Former NSA Head Joins OpenAI Board and Safety Committee - RetailWire