The former employee used encrypted email to communicate with someone he thought was a foreign spy, who was actually an FBI agent.
A former NSA employee who worked at the agency for less than a month is accused of attempting to sell top secret documents to a foreign agent, who was actually an undercover FBI agent, according to the Department of Justice.
On Thursday, the DOJ announced that the FBI had arrested Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 30, who worked at the NSA as an Information Systems Security Designer from June 6, 2022, to July 1, 2022.
Dalke allegedly used encrypted email to communicate with someone he believed was a foreign spy, offering to sell classified NSA documents in exchange for cryptocurrency. After Dalke sent excerpts of the documents to the FBI agent, he agreed to meet him to transfer more documents, according to the press release.
“Dalke told that individual that he had taken highly sensitive information relating to foreign targeting of U.S. systems, and information on U.S. cyber operations, among other topics,” the press release read. “Dalke requested compensation via a specific type of cryptocurrency in exchange for the information he possessed and stated that he was in financial need.”
Dalke asked for $85,000 for the documents, and told the FBI agent that he would be able to get more information and documents in the future. When all this happened Dalke wasn’t working at the NSA anymore, but he re-applied to work at the agency in August of 2022, according to the feds.
The FBI arrested Dalke on Sept. 28, when he went to a location in Denver, thinking he was going to meet the foreign agent, according to the press release.
The NSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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