Since 9/11, the vast majority I.T. experts in the intelligence world have
worked for private contractors, and the Snowden case has set off a new debate
about whether the government could have more control of the workers if they
were direct employees.
“This is a dirty little secret that’s being revealed,” said
Robert Bigman, a former chief information security officer at the Central
Intelligence Agency. “When you log on with a root account, it doesn’t
know if you’re staff employee or a contract employee. It just knows
you’re root. You’re known as a superuser. You have all
privileges.”
