It is simply astounding that Heather Wilson is trying to remake herself into some sort of cyber security sage.
Consider the case of Shawn Carpenter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Carpenter), a former cyber security analyst that was fired from Sandia National Laboratories in 2005 for passing information to the United States Army and the FBI. Carpenter uncovered a sophisticated cyber espionage ring dubbed “Titan Rain” while employed at Sandia. According to TIME Magazine and other reporting, “hundreds of military installations, government agencies (including Sandia Labs) and defense contractor networks were penetrated and sensitive information was being systematically stolen. The firing and resulting wrongful discharge trial was covered widely in the local and national press. Carpenter prevailed at trial, with the outraged jury awarding him almost $5 millon - most of which was punitive damages.
Heather Wilson didn’t utter a peep while she was in office about this case, even though the local media was plastered with reporting. Additionally, it is hard to miss a TIME cover article (http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1098961,00.html) that involves a national laboratory in your home state. Doing so may have offended her campaign donors (i.e. Lockheed, who operates Sandia for the government). According to news reporting, Carpenter had to go elsewhere for Congressional support, as his own Congressional Representatives in New Mexico couldn’t be bothered with his concerns.
Her quote from the oped, “Yet an important part of protecting ourselves is sharing information about what probes and compromises are found...” rings hollow. It is absolutely absurd that she is now consulting on cyber security. It is incredible that WAPO printed her self-promoting platitudes without more closely examining her background and record on cyber security. It seems ironic that Ms. Wilson is now espousing the dangers of cyberwarfare now that she is out of office. She is nothing more than a talking head promoting her new career. Where was she when it happened in her own back yard? Take a wild stab at where all of the pilfered data was going when she was a Congressional Representative in NM...
Yikes! So everything in this article is inaccurate? It sounded plausible to me. And I never knew that Sandia was not allowed to share its research with the military and the FBI. Why did they go after this man instead of going after the espionage ring? At this point I hope he is working for the military. Thanks for your insight.