Meet the guy hired to ensure Snowden docs aren't hacked

Micah Lee. Photo: Mashable.


Micah Lee. Photo: Mashable.

Mashable has a nice profile of First Look's Micah Lee.

The 28-year-old security expert's responsibilities at Pierre Omidyar's newly-launched investigative journalism outlet include making sure Glenn Greenwald's computer is secure, and that the Edward Snowden leaks don't end up hacked. Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and fellow journalists working with the documents have chosen to report and release contents of that leaked cache at a measured pace, redacting information they believe would likely lead to the loss of life.

Essentially, Lee is First Look's digital bodyguard, or as Greenwald puts it, "the mastermind" behind its security operations.

Lee's position is rare in the media world. But in the age of secret-spilling and the government clampdown on reporters' sources, news organizations are aiming to strengthen their digital savvy with hires like him.

(Disclosure: we're both part of Freedom of the Press Foundation).