Former head of the NSA Keith Alexander has been forced to respond to critics, arguing that his new private initiative – in which he provides cyber security advice to corporations for up to (a reported) one million dollars monthly – won’t compromise U.S. intelligence secrets.
A blog passage written by GAP Executive Director Bea Edwards is cited in the article. Edwards wrote the piece in June when Alexander first moved into the private sector. You can read all of Edwards’ blog entries at Huffington Post here.
Key Quote: “In the person of Keith Alexander, we’re seeing the de facto merger of corporate financial power and government outreach,”Bea Edwards, the executive director of the Government Accountability Project, wrote when IronNet was first announced. “Some subset of corporations is paid to develop the cyberattack and defense capability of the U.S. government, and another subset pays the graduations of the contracting agencies (the NSA and USCYBERCOM) for an inside route to the technology. All of this is being conducted behind the veil of the War on Terror, an increasingly profitable funding vehicle for those well-placed to hop on board.”
Arkansas Business: Whistleblower Case Alleges Fraud Against Wal-Mart
A former vice president of Conair Corp – a personal care products company – was allegedly fired after reporting her firm was committing fraud against its biggest customer, Wal-Mart. She has filed a complaint alleging that Conair would “surreptitiously cover the UPC label of the old products with the UPC label of the current product and ship the old products to Wal-Mart’s locations.”
Santa Fe New Mexican: Ex-Northern New Mexico College Employee Files Whistleblower Suit
A former employee of Northern New Mexico College has filed a whistleblower complaint, alleging that he was placed on administrative leave for “revealing financial, administrative and management irregularities of the campus’ technological systems.”
Michael Riley is a Communications Intern for the Government Accountability Project, the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.