Chris Inglis, NSA deputy chief during leaks, says IS 'clearly' harder to find Says they altered tactics, allowing them to operate away from gaze of U.S. He says Snowden spill went 'way beyond disclosing privacy concerns' Leaks also cover NSA's top-secret 'means and methods' of hunting enemies

By Matthew Blake for MailOnline

Published: 07:28 EST, 5 September 2014 | Updated: 07:59 EST, 5 September 2014

On the run: Snowden has been on the run from U.S. authorities since he laid bare the extent of the NSA's spying programme, particularly on internet communication, such as emails, and social media

Islamic State extremists have studied and exploited the leaks made by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to operate under the radar of U.S. intelligence, a former agency chief has claimed.

Chris Inglis said militants in Iraq and Syria are 'clearly' harder to track down since the rogue agent made freely available a wealth of top-secret information about how the U.S. government hunts its enemies online.

The terror group, Inglis said, has drastically altered its evasive tradecraft as a result of the data spill, and now operates only in the darkest corners of the internet, where they remain one step ahead of the intelligence community.

Inglis,who was the National Security Agency's deputy director when Snowden exposed how the NSA eavesdrops, said the leak 'went way beyond disclosing things that bore on privacy concerns', and delved deep into the agency's 'means and methods' used to stay on terrorists' tails.

He told the Washington Times: 'Having disclosed all of those methods, or at least some degree of those methods, it would be impossible to imagine that - as intelligent as they are in the use of technology, in the employment of communications for their own purposes - they wouldn't understand how they might be at risk to intelligence services around the world, not the least of which is the U.S. And they necessarily do what they think is in their best interest to defend themselves.'

Snowden has been on the run from U.S. authorities since he laid bare the extent of the NSA's spying programme, with particular regard to internet communication, such as emails, and social media.

Originally posted here:

'Isis are using Snowden leaks to evade US intelligence': Former NSA boss warns terror group are exploiting massive ...