Snowden used colleagues’ passwords to access secret files, report says

Edward Snowden was able to download so many secret documents in part because he persuaded as many as 25 of his colleagues to give him their logins and passwords, according to a new report. According to Reuters, Snowden told colleagues at a National Security Agency base in Hawaii that he needed their logins and passwords as part of his job as a systems administrator. Snowden, a former NSA contractor, used those login details to access and download thousands of secret documents. He then shared them with journalists in the largest breach of classified data in the agency’s history.

Some of the employees who shared their login information with Snowden were found, questioned, and removed from their jobs, Reuters reported. The latest revelation will likely add to criticism that the NSA’s security measures were inadequate in the months and years leading up to the breach. Snowden worked in Hawaii for about a month last spring, according to Reuters.