Information security

Ex-CIA: Media leaks put lives of US foreign agents -- and Americans -- at risk. Is that worth a scoop?

For the past year, Americans have read a barrage of stories related to Russia’s role in the 2016 election. The latest comes from the Washington Post, which recently gossiped about how President Obama did – and did not – respond to Moscow’s propaganda operations aimed at thwarting America’s democracy.

Like many articles before it, this essay highlighted classified information leaked by anonymous government sources to prove its claims.

What the Post didn’t tell readers, however, is that classified intelligence doesn’t come from its secret leakers in Washington D.C. Rather, America’s intelligence flows from a global network of clandestine informants recruited by my former colleagues in the CIA and FBI.