John Walker, the Navy Spy Who Defined Crypto-Betrayal, Dead at 77

[MULTIZ321]

John Walker, the Navy Spy Who Defined Crypto-Betrayal, Dead at 77 - by Sean Gallagher/ Tech-Policy/ ArsTechnica.com

"This week, the man responsible for what is probably the biggest cryptographic failure in military history died—just a few months before he was due to be released from prison. John Walker Jr. led a family spy ring that exposed a vast trove of classified data to the Soviet Union for 18 years by giving them access to Navy cryptographic materials. He passed away in a North Carolina federal prison hospital on Thursday after a long battle with cancer. He was 77 years old..."

John Walker Jr. started spying for the Soviets while he was a chief warrant officer in the US Navy—to help get out of debt from a failed bar. He kept doing it for 18 years.

For those interested in a more thorough description of this story, see
The Navy's Biggest Betrayal - by John Prados/ Naval History Magazine/ U.S.Naval Institute/usni.org

Richard

 

[Beaglemom3]

He did so much damage.

Self-edited: bordering on political.



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[Clemson Fan]

In memory of this event I would send one of those GPS guided bombs into Pyongyang to blow the USS Pueblo to smithereens! The Peblo still remains a commissioned US Navy ship despite it being used as a propoganda museums ship in North Korea.

 

[Patri]

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about him. The bum.

 

[pedro47]

He had the knowledge, and the power and he sold our sub information to the enemy. RIP

 

[vacationhopeful]

He had the knowledge, and the power and he sold our sub information to the enemy. RIP

My thought was, he never saw the light of freedom again ... he got his "reward".

 

[Passepartout]

.. he got his "reward".

If there's a just deity, he will.

 

[KauaiMark]

Lost security clearance because of this guy...

It takes several weeks to investigate and do background checks before approval of a security clearance. If a government contractor needs someone for a classified project, it can delay that project by several weeks unless that person already has a clearance.

Therefore silicon valley software contract houses routinely applied for security clearances for ALL software programmers working in related areas whether or not we were signed to work classified projects. It saved time and delays if we were assigned to a classified project later on.

When the govt asked why Walker could have evaded detection for so long, the reply was: "..too many people with security clearances to keep track of"

The result? Anyone not currently working on classified projects had their clearance pulled because of this guy .