|
 Under the arrangement, which was confirmed by Alexander and
current intelligence officials, NSA's Chief Technical Officer,
Patrick Dowd, is allowed to work up to 20 hours a week at IronNet
Cybersecurity Inc, the private firm led by Alexander, a retired Army
general and his former boss.
The arrangement was approved by top NSA managers, current and former
officials said. It does not appear to break any laws and it could
not be determined whether Dowd has actually begun working for
Alexander, who retired from the NSA in March.
In a statement in response to inquiries by Reuters, NSA spokeswoman
Vanee Vines said, "This matter is under internal review. While NSA
does not comment on specific employees, NSA takes seriously ethics
laws and regulations at all levels of the organization."
Current and former U.S. intelligence officials, some of whom
requested anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said they could
not recall a previous instance in which a high-ranking U.S.
intelligence official was allowed to concurrently work for a
private-sector firm.
They said it risked a conflict of interest between sensitive
government work and private business, and could be seen as giving
favoritism to Alexander's venture. IronNet Cybersecurity is
developing a new approach to protect computer networks from hackers
and is marketing it to financial institutions and other
private-sector firms.
Alexander, who was the eavesdropping and code-breaking agency's
longest-serving director, confirmed the arrangement with Dowd in an
interview with Reuters. He said he understood it had been approved
by all the necessary government authorities, and that IronNet
Cybersecurity, not the government, would pay for Dowd's time spent
with the firm.
Dowd, he said, wanted to join IronNet, and the deal was devised as a
way to keep Dowd's technological expertise at least partly within
the U.S. government, rather than losing him permanently to the
private sector.
"I wanted Pat to stay at NSA. He wanted to come on board," Alexander
said.
He acknowledged that the hybrid arrangement "is awkward," but added,
"I just felt that his leaving the government was the wrong thing for
NSA and our nation."
Dowd did not respond to requests for comment. Alexander and Dowd
have jointly filed patents based on technology they developed while
at the NSA. Alexander said the cybersecurity techniques that IronNet
is developing are not based on those patents.
[to top of second column] |
“UNUSUAL”
The NSA’s review comes at a sensitive time for the electronic spy
agency, which last year went through the worst crisis in its 62-year
history following revelations by former contractor Edward Snowden of
widespread government electronic surveillance.
The NSA, whose technological wizardry helped the U.S. government
eavesdrop on Soviet leaders during the Cold War and is an important
ingredient in the Obama administration's counter-terrorism efforts,
is based in Fort Meade, Maryland, about 25 miles (15 km) from
Washington D.C., where IronNet is headquartered.
In an earlier statement to Reuters, spokeswoman Vines said that
"under ethics rules, senior executive employees, among others, are
required to obtain written permission through their supervisors if
they wish to pursue outside employment with a prohibited source."
Stewart Baker, a former NSA general counsel, said that he had never
heard of an arrangement under which an NSA executive is allowed to
work part time for a private company presumed to be involved in some
of the same type of business as the NSA.
"I agree this is unusual," Baker said, adding, "It’s complex, but
probably manageable."
Baker said that there is already a program in place which allows
government executives to leave, spend some time in the private
sector, and then return to government without giving up seniority or
other rights. Such arrangements traditionally require a total break
with government service.
Paul Rothstein, a criminal law and ethics professor at Georgetown
University law school, said the arrangement in which NSA is allowing
Dowd to work part time for Alexander’s company "seems problematic."
"If it isn’t structured very carefully, this runs the risk of
conflict of interest and disclosure of national secrets," Rothstein
said. "It is a situation that in the interests of good government
should be avoided unless there’s some very strong reason to do it."
(Editing by Jason Szep, Toni Reinhold)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
