USA: Whistleblower Edward Snowden #39;s mother holds her silence in Maryland
1. W/S Edward Snowden #39;s mother #39;s house 2. M/S Wendy Snowden #39;s house 3. W/S Wendy Snowden #39;s house 4. M/S Wendy Snowden #39;s welcome sign 5. C/U Edward Snowden #39;s ...

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USA: Whistleblower Edward Snowden's mother holds her silence in Maryland - Video

Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has joined a phone-in with Russian President Vladimir Putin, quizzing him over the extent of Moscow's surveillance activities.

Putin, a former KGB agent, greeted Snowden as a fellow 'former agent' before assuring him that Russia's surveillance of the population was not on a mass scale and strictly controlled by laws.

Snowden, a 30-year-old former United States National Security Agency contractor, was granted asylum by Russia last August after shaking the American intelligence establishment to its core with a series of devastating leaks on mass surveillance in the US and around the world.

His location has been kept strictly secret ever since.

Russians were able to submit video questions to Putin using cell phone apps.

Snowden spoke against a dark background giving no clue to his location, wearing a dark suit jacket and grey shirt, looking unshaven with his hair plastered down.

His Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told the RIA Novosti news agency that Snowden had recorded and submitted the video in advance.

'He found out there would be a direct line with the Russian president and recorded a question,' Kucherena said.

First the camera cut dramatically to a co-host who introduced Snowden as 'a person who carried out a real information revolution'.

'I'd like to ask you: does Russia intercept, store or analyse in any way the communications of millions of individuals?' Snowden asked Putin in English.

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Snowden questions Putin on surveillance

Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden on Thursday made an unexpected intervention in a televised forum involving Russian President Vladimir Putin, quizzing him over the extent of Moscow's surveillance activities.

Putin, a former KGB agent, greeted Snowden as a fellow 'former agent' before assuring him that Russia's surveillance of the population was not on a mass scale and strictly controlled by laws.

The questions were put to Putin during a televised QA aired on Thursday in which Russians were able to submit videoed questions to Putin using mobile phone apps.

Snowden spoke against a dark background giving no clue to his location. His Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told the RIA Novosti news agency that Snowden pre-recorded the video.

The fugitive whistleblower asked the question in English. Putin appeared taken aback and was not provided with a translation through an earpiece, suggesting he was not expecting the question.

'I'd like to ask you: does Russia intercept, store or analyse in any way the communications of millions of individuals?' Snowden asked.

'And do you believe that simply increasing the effectiveness of intelligence or law enforcement investigations can justify our placing societies rather than subjects under surveillance?'

Putin replied that the kind of 'mass eavesdropping' on the population that Snowden exposed in the United States was impossible as Russia's special services were under strict control.

'Mr Snowden, you're a former agent, I also had something to do with this, so we'll talk in a professional language,' he greeted Snowden, drowned out by clapping from the audience.

'We have strict legal regulation of the use of special surveillance by special services, including tapping phone conversations, surveillance on the internet and so on,' Putin said, stressing a court decision was necessary for this.

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Snowden asks Putin surveillance question

Summary: Edward Snowden caused more damage to the Internet than the U.S. intelligence community did, according to a former deputy director of the NSA. But of course, he would say that. So, now what?

NEW YORK Edward Snowden sure has caused a lot of headaches in the IT security community.

His reported leaks have led the industry going into overdrive mode over the past ten months in order to counter some of the previously unthinkable tactics used by the U.S. National Security Agency and the wider intelligence community.

In spite of blowing the whistle on some of the encryption-cracking efforts, the fiber-cable tapping, and the zero-day flaw exploitation, Snowden was the one who caused damage to the Internet, according toone former senior NSA official.

Former NSA deputy director of training Col. Cedric Leighton said in remarksat the Bloomberg Enterprise Technology Summit in New York City on Thursday that Snowden's leaks had performed a "significant disservice" to the worldwide health of the Internet.

He was talking about the recent moves by Brazil and other countries to reconsider the decentralized nature of the foundation of the Internet.

Quick to respond,Trend Micro chief technology officerRaimund Genes said Europe's efforts to strengthen policy within its 28 member state border was "going over the top."

He added that policy was not always the answer, and that the security industry should also find solutions to benefit customers the most.

The panel pitted the U.S. intelligence agency's actions against the rest of the world the Snowden leaks have touched almost every nation and led with the discussion on nation states' efforts to create their own versions of the Internet, including keeping citizen data within their own respective borders.

"The Internet was created to be global, and it should stay global," Genes added.

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Former NSA deputy director: Snowden leaks caused 'significant disservice' to the Internet

U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden was on Wednesday officially initiated as the student rector of the University of Glasgow.

At the rectorial installation at the university, Snowden presented his inaugural address via video link to staff and students. "In a democracy people have a right to know the policies of their government. This idea that if we believe in something we should stand up for it is what I will follow in my role as rector of the university," Snowden noted.

Jess McGrellis, president of the University of Glasgow's students' representative council, said he was "happy that Snowden was able to continue the tradition of addressing students at this installation."

The main role of the rector is to represent the university's students. Having received 3,347 of the 6,560 votes cast by students in February, Snowden takes over from his predecessor Charles Kennedy and will hold the office for the next three years.

Under the Universities (Scotland) Act 1858, the rector is the "ordinary president" of court, the university's governing body of 25 members, drawn from the university's students and staff, from its graduates and from the wider community, which is responsible for overseeing the management of the university.

Snowden, a former U.S. defense contractor who revealed U.S. secret surveillance programs, is currently living in Russia under temporary asylum and facing espionage charges for his leaks on U.S. National Security Agency surveillance practices in his home country.

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Snowden initiated as Glasgow University rector