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The private company at issue IronNet Cybersecuritywas founded by Alexander, who ran the spy agency from August 2005 until March 2014. IronNet Cybersecurity offers protection services to banks for up to $1 million per month. Patrick Dowd, the NSA's current chief technology officer, had been working with Alexander's private venture for up to 20 hours per week.

Reuters reported Tuesdaythat the deal was over."While we understand we did everything right, I think there's still enough issues out there that create problems for Dr. Dowd, for NSA, for my company," Alexander said.

It's the second potential conflict of interest surrounding the former spy chief this month. Newly released documents show that during his tenure as director, Alexander personally had thousands of dollars invested in obscure technology companies that could have financially benefited as a result of his actions running the NSA, sincethe spy agency is involved in electronic surveillance, code busting, andcomputer protection and intrusion, among other things.

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After review, NSAs CTO can no longer work part-time for agencys former chief

Bang! Mustang - Surfin NSA
released on Rhythm Bomb Records http://www.rhythmbomb.com/

By: RockinMartin13

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Bang! Mustang - Surfin NSA - Video

Several Galaxy devices (and the Boeing Black phone) received NSA approval to carry classified information.

A number of Samsung mobile devices have been cleared by the National Security Agency for use by U.S. government officials.

The Galaxy S5, S4, Note 4, and Note 3 smartphones, plus the Note 10.1 tablet, among others, received NSA approval to carry classified information, provided they are running Samsung's secure Knox enterprise suite.

Boeing's self-destructing Black smartphone (not to be confused with the Blackphone) also made the list.

"The inclusion of Samsung mobile devices on the ... list proves the unmatched security of Samsung Galaxy Devices supported by the Knox platform," CEO JK Shin said in a statement. "At Samsung, we continue to address today's increasingly complex security challenges, and are committed to delivering the most reliable mobile platform satisfying the needs of professionals in all industries."

Samsung Knox, introduced last year, provides Samsung devices with a corporate controlled "container," much like BlackBerry Balance. The Department of Defense approved Knox in May 2013, and Samsung struck a deal with mobile security firm Lookout last September to bolster the security of Android devices running Knox.

By December, however, researchers found a "critical vulnerability" in Knox, which they said could enable "easy interception of data communications." The following month, Samsung said the researchers "did not identify a flaw or bug in Samsung Knox or Android, [but] a classic Man in the Middle (MitM) attack, which is possible at any point on the network to see unencrypted application data."

In May, Samsung released its Galaxy S5 smartphone with Knox 2.0; the update includes an improved user experience and new tools for SMBs.

The next month, five Knox-installed Galaxy phones and tablets received approval from the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency.

Such approvals are increasingly necessary in a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) environment. Gone are the days when people had a BlackBerry for work and an iPhone or other smartphone for personal use. People don't want to carry two gadgets around, so IT departments have had to add support for more popular devices. In industries that deal with classified or sensitive information - from banking to the military - super-secure services like Knox are intended to avoid data leaks and prying eyes.

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NSA: Samsung Knox Devices Safe for Classified Info

A year and a half into the release of classified documents by Edward Snowden, the existence of far-reaching National Security Agency surveillance is common if controversial knowledge.

But until The Intercept published new documents this month, the role of American companies in that surveillance was less than clear, ProPublicas Julia Angwin and Jeff Larson tell Editor-in-Chief Steve Engelberg in this weeks podcast.

The new documents describe "contractual relationships" between the NSA and unnamed U.S. companies and reveal that the NSA has "under cover" spies working at or with some of them. And indeed, it would be difficult for the NSA to do its work without their help, Larson says.

The important thing about todays communications infrastructure is that it doesnt respect country borders, he says, Youre no longer looking at Soviet signals in Russia youre trying to cast a wide net and collect information thats traveling maybe through the United States while it goes from, say, London to China.

The cooperating companies in question, though unnamed in the new documents, are almost certainly telecommunications companies that lay the fiber for data communications, Angwin says, as they are really the first point of attack for anyone whos trying to do surveillance, whether theyre a criminal, or the NSA.

Aside from privacy concerns, Angwin also notes theres the simple question of cost surveillance has quadrupled to $80 billion since 9/11 vs. benefit. Were, you know, a year and a half into the Snowden leaks, she says, and the NSA has yet to provide clear evidence that any of the surveillance has worked to prevent an attack, right?

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Podcast: When U.S. Companies Help the NSA

NSA Fix You Cover (Live at Musoc Idol)

By: Kenneth Phang

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NSA Fix You Cover (Live at Musoc Idol) - Video