Hiring digital 007s

“AT BOOZ ALLEN, we’re shaping the future of cyber-security,” trumpets a recruiting message on the website of Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting and technology firm. It is hard to argue with that blurb right now. Edward Snowden, the man who revealed he was responsible for leaks about surveillance of American citizens by the National Security Agency (NSA), was a contractor working for Booz Allen. That has turned a spotlight on the extensive involvement of private firms in helping America’s spooks to do their jobs. The affair could lead to changes in the way these relationships work.

As a result of the leaks, politicians are likely to debate the pros and cons of outsourcing sensitive work monitoring online communications and security threats to firms such as Booz Allen, which has close links to the intelligence establishment. Many of its more than 25,000 employees have some form of government security clearance and Mike McConnell, who heads its fast-growing cyber-security business, is a former Director of National Intelligence. The current director, James Clapper, is a former Booz Allen executive.