Snowden Claims U.S. Policy Is Creating A Black Market For Digital Weapons

Edward Snowden says in a new interview with NOVA Next that the U.S. governmentwronglypromotescyberoffense strategies at the expense of weakening the system and leaving it open to cyber attacks from the black market.

Were creating a class of Internet security researchers who research vulnerabilities, but then instead of disclosing them to the device manufacturers to get them fixed and to make us more secure, they sell them to secret agencies, Snowdensays. They sell them on the black market to criminal groups to be able to exploit these to attack targets. And that leaves us much less secure, not just on an individual level, but on a broad social level; on a broad economic level. And beyond that, it creates a new black market for computer weapons, basically digital weapons.

Snowden points out that the White Houses own independent review panels have shownthat not a single program has stoppedan imminent terrorist attack on the United States. He does not believe the public is aware of just how disastrous these policies could backfire and questions the value of such programs that leave our own information vulnerable.

Snowden alsopoints out that other countries such as Iran are ahead of us in realizing the problem:

But it is important to highlight that we really started this trend in many ways when we launched the Stuxnet campaign against the Iranian nuclear program. It actually kicked off a response, sort of retaliatory action from Iran, where they realized they had been caught unprepared. They were far behind the technological curve as compared to the United States and most other countries. And this is happening across the world nowadays, where they realize that theyre caught out. Theyre vulnerable. They have no capacity to retaliate to any sort of cyber campaign brought against them.

Wespend much more onresearch and development, compared to the rest of the world. Sowhen it comes to ourcyber security says Snowden, We have more to lose than any other nation on Earth.

Snowden said he didntwant to overhype the problem, Nobodys going to press a key on their keyboard and bring down the government. But he did emphasize that the threats from foreign governments were real and that we should be focusing more on the defense of our own information than focusing on others.

Snowden was interviewed forNOVA Next fromRussia, where he has lived since releasing documents showing the U.S. had been spying on citizens through several technology companies. He is wanted in the U.S. on criminal charges for theft and misuse of classified information. Snowdendismissed former CIA director Michael Haydens predictions that he would wind up a sad and miserable drunk in Russia. Snowden said he only drinks waterand that the country was actually great. Yeah, I know. Its crazy, he told interviewer James Bamford.

Click to read a full transcript of the interview here.

Read more here:
Snowden Claims U.S. Policy Is Creating A Black Market For Digital Weapons