Review: How America Lost Its Secrets: Edward Snowden, the Man and the Theft

How America Lost Its Secrets: Edward Snowden, the Man and the Theft by Edward Jay Epstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me first say that True Crime is not something I normally read.  I do love to watch a good crime documentary on television though, so you'd think I'd like reading about them.  Unsolved Mysteries was my favorite show for the longest time.  I picked this because on this year's reading challenge there is a true crime book prompt.  I didn't want to read about death or murder, I just wasn't in the mood.  While looking at true crime books at the library, this popped up.  This is a case that I was aware of, kind of familiar with, but not totally aware of the details.  It was a perfect fit for the prompt.  I was in the Navy so I know about how clearances and secure information work.  I won't pretend to understand how the CIA and NSA work, I don't think anyone understands them.   I work in data analysis and I'm pretty comfortable with cyber security as it is part of my job today. 

This was an excellent compilation of facts and gives educated and informed options to fill in the unknowns. You can decide on your own what you think happened but you are presented with the information that is known and unknown. The technical information is presented in a consumable manner and is not overwhelming or confusing. I found this fascinating. While it isn't the end all be all for what happened, I really enjoyed it. This inspires me to read more about the Snowden case and get more information and investigate more opinions on what really happened.

Epstein starts off giving a background on Edward Snowden, his various jobs that gave him access to the sensitive and highly classified information that he should have never had access to. I know how security clearance investigations work, and to find out that pretty much none of Snowden's information was ever validated and he was still granted top secret clearance that granted him access to the people, spaces, and data to steal the data blows my mind. While I'm sure that Snowden would have ended up as a hacker in some capacity or another given his talents with software, the fact that not one of his employers checked on his education or credentials is ridiculous. It angers me on so many levels.

Epstein goes on to give the timeline of how Snowden built his plan and moved from job to job to gain access to the various files he took. How he released the files under the guise of a whistle-blower and gained notariety as a hero in some camps by exposing the government and the NSA for tapping phone calls and collecting data on unsuspecting people. He then goes on to paint the timeline displaying Snowden as a spy as Snowden flees the US for Hong Kong and then Russia. We'll never know Snowden's true intent because we will never know what he told the truth about and where his moral compass points. Epstein leans a bit toward Snowden being a spy and working with Russia, and I kind of have to agree so I don't really mind the bias there. Then again I'd be open to fact based discussion and other opinions.

I do think in addition to the Snowden information Epstein provides alot of great additional historical information in regards to national security, the evolution of cyber crimes, and the history ofnstant sleeper agents that the US and every other country in the world namely Russia had infiltrate each others securiy agencies since the beginning of time. I learned quite a bit from this book. The narrator was excellent as well.

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