
Facebook's Former Security Chief Now Works for the NSA - tippytop
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/06/facebooks-former-security-chief-now-works-nsa/66432/
======
danso
His security blog at Facebook: "Facebook Security: Fighting the Good Fight"
[https://www.facebook.com/blog/blog.php?post=25844207130](https://www.facebook.com/blog/blog.php?post=25844207130)

edit: here's the obligatory "but this is blogspam" note...Kelly's employment
with the NSA was first reported by the the Times here a few days ago
([http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/technology/silicon-
valley-...](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/technology/silicon-valley-and-
spy-agency-bound-by-strengthening-web.html?_r=2&))...but yeah, here's a
classic case of newspaperism vs. sexy-SEO-headlines...I didn't read "Web's
Reach Binds N.S.A. and Silicon Valley Leaders" because it sounded no different
than other recent stories...but a Facebook exec going to work for N.S.A. is
definitely a headline-worthy fact.

However, Kelly isn't the stereotypical young Bay Area millionaire ex-
Facebooker...he previously worked as an FBI analyst before joining Facebook
([https://twitter.com/wrox/status/1699420309](https://twitter.com/wrox/status/1699420309))...So
going from FBI to Facebook to NSA isn't as strange as, well, going from
college to Facebook to NSA, unless the catered lunch at NSA is classified and
delicious. Not knowing why he left Facebook...but after doing so, it's not out
of left field to go back into federal security, especially if he had a NDA
with Facebook not to go to other competing services, such as Google.

~~~
bpatrianakos
I really appreciate your edits here and digging enough to put this story into
proper context. It seemed like one of those stories meant to gin up outrage
and get the conspiracy theories going and it pretty much ended up just like
that.

There are people from all walks of life from all sorts of industries who end
up at the NSA. It doesn't mean they're all setting up systems and bringing
back intel for spying. This is just a coincidence.

So I'm glad you brought this up but still think everyone is still going to
play right into this article's trap. After all, conspiracy theories are much
more satisfying to our egos than mundane reality.

~~~
trotsky
While I don't consider this a huge revelation or issue, dismissing the
employment of the former cso of the greatest private intelligence source in
history by the greatest intelligence consumer in history as coincidence
without a second thought is hopelessly naive. If you dismiss anything vaguely
conspiratorial as a "conspiracy theory" out of hand you'd dismiss pretty much
every active intelligence program we have.

------
qwertzlcoatl
This is a brilliant move on his part. He knows the FB architecture and
security apparatus, and he is going to contributing immensely to NSA's
endeavors on how to effectively data-mine social media aggregates. Not to
mention the relationship he's already built with the FB alumni. He'll have
enough clout to influence decisions over there.

~~~
flyinRyan
Well, it will probably make him more money and power but working on something
immoral and evil makes you immoral and evil. Fuck this guy.

------
tptacek
Conversely, "current NSA employee no longer works for Facebook". But not as
clickworthy.

~~~
danso
Yes...just as "NATION MAKES PREPARATIONS TO TRANSITION FROM STATE OF PEACE" is
less clickworthy than "WAR" :)

(yes, I know I just invoked Godwin's law by comparing the NSA controversy with
WW2, but it was tongue-in-cheek)

His reasons for leaving Facebook and joining NSA may be completely orthogonal
to each other...but in terms of likeliness, I think it's safe to argue that
Kelly was wanted for his experience in security implementations in modern day
networks, rather than him having a mid-life crisis and deciding to quit tech
management work to try his hand at code cracking.

That said, this doesn't mean he joined out of nefarious motives. His work at
the FBI could mean that he honestly believes he is doing God's work in helping
government and private tech companies become partners for the good of all. His
use at the NSA may be as someone who smooths out any hurdles that are
encountered during perfectly legal processes between the two institutions...it
doesn't have to be that he's Chief-Backdoor-Installer at the NSA.

On the other hand, just because you have great intentions doesn't mean the
result is ideal...many government officials who become lobbyists may sincerely
believe in their cause, but their access and power leads to unintended
consequences.

In other words, the job transition could be entirely good natured, but it
still could result in some people's worst fears being realized. So more
transparency in this example would be nice...though I wonder how much Kelly
can say without encroaching upon what the government thinks of as being top-
secret-classified.

~~~
tptacek
Touche. :)

------
mirkules
When you start to look back, things like this start making a lot more sense in
the present context: [http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-
news/index.ssf/2...](http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-
news/index.ssf/2011/02/obama_meets_with_facebook_founder_mark_zuckerberg_headed_to_oregon_next.html)

Maybe there isn't a plan to infiltrate existing big-data companies, but it
seems like an awful coincidence that we see things like the above link and the
headlines of today.

------
smsm42
Makes sense. Facebook's leadership publicized belief is that privacy is
outdated. NSA's position is the same, only they have more tools to make it so.

------
qwertzlcoatl
Given that the first $500 million of Facebook investment came from In-Q-Tel, a
CIA company that invests in deep data mining systems, it isn't hard to wonder
whether Facebook's security officer could have been an employee of the NSA all
along.

~~~
prostoalex
In-Q-Tel never invested in Facebook.

~~~
qwertzlcoatl
Please ignore what I said, I was posting something I grabbed of somewhere
without verifying first. In-Q-Tel never made any public investment in
Facebook. The only connections that exist are the following:

Facebook received $12.7 million in venture capital from Accel, whose manager,
James Breyer, now sits on the In-Q-Tel board. He was formerly the chairman of
the National Venture Capital Association, whose board included Gilman Louie,
then the CEO of In-Q-Tel.

One of the main managers of the facebook investors "Greylock partners", Howard
Cox, sits also in the management board of In-Q-Tel. The offices of Greylock
and In-Q-Tel are direclty next to each other at Sandhill Road in Menlo Park.

~~~
prostoalex
For context you should mention that total historical portfolio of Accel and
Greylock includes hundreds of companies. So the conspiracy theory would have
to map to Diapers.com or Rovio.

