Is anyone surprised the Obama-era whistleblower directive put into place actually worked? I bet Edward Snowden is. Not only did it work, but Congress wouldn’t have given it such weight had the information been otherwise leaked in a Snowden or Manning-esque style, nor would the IG have had the chance to acknowledge the information as “credible and urgent”. Historical treatment of whistleblowers has been deplorable, but we also didn’t have these protections in the 70s, when Ellsberg or others could have used them, so the comparison is also irrelevant. Congress, the IC, and the press are taking “extreme measures” to protect the anonymity (and safety) of the whistleblower, and most acknowledge how crucial it is to do so in order to keep a democracy. This is a very different outcome than what Snowden predicted would happen if he’d made an attempt at the proper channels first. While the jury is still out on the hero vs. traitor debate, the fact that these whistleblower procedures undeniably succeeded in bringing things to light can’t be helping Snowden’s image.
DFIR, security, reverse engineering, photography, funky bass guitar. All opinions are my own.