New Snowden docs support claim of NSA cyberweapon hack - CNET

The latest documents from Edward Snowden, published by The Intercept on Friday, appear to support earlier reports that the National Security Administration's "secret" cyberweapons are anything but.

The Intercept, whose reporters have access to files Snowden took from the agency in 2013, says a top-secret NSA manual contains the same 16-character alphanumeric tracking code that appears throughout a portion of code released online earlier this week by a group called The ShadowBrokers. The group was auctioning off the code, which it said was stolen from the NSA.

The relevant code was reportedly part of a program dubbed SECONDDATE that was used to spy on Pakistan and Lebanon.

The NSA did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation and comment on The Intercept's report.

Snowden, a former NSA contractor, has been in exile in Russia since June 2013. He rocketed to international fame after releasing a trove of documents detailing the extent of the intelligence agency's operations. His story is the subject of a biopic starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt that's set to open next month.