Snowden Gathered NSA Dirt While at Dell

Looks like Edward Snowden began snooping around the NSA long before he started work at Booz Allen Hamilton: He began downloading related records in April of last year while working at Dell, insiders tell Reuters. That's almost a year earlier than had been reported, Reuters notes. An electronic footprint shows when Snowden got his hands on the information. The documents included information on NSA and British surveillance programs.

Snowden accessed records regarding the NSA's surveillance of fiber-optic cables packed with internet traffic, some of them stretching across oceans. Dell is keeping quiet following a customer request—probably from the NSA, Reuters notes—not to comment on Snowden. The leaker's efforts at Dell may further pressure the US to crack down on information security, Reuters points out. (More Edward Snowden stories.)