{"id":814023,"date":"2022-09-26T16:41:23","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T16:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=408754"},"modified":"2022-09-26T16:41:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T16:41:23","slug":"former-nsa-chief-signed-deal-to-train-saudi-hackers-months-before-jamal-khashoggis-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/09\/26\/former-nsa-chief-signed-deal-to-train-saudi-hackers-months-before-jamal-khashoggis-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NSA Chief Signed Deal to Train Saudi Hackers Months Before Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"
In early 2018,<\/u> former National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander worked out a deal with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the cyber institute led by one of his closest aides, Saud al-Qahtani, to help the Saudi ruler train the next generation of Saudi hackers to take on the kingdom\u2019s enemies.<\/p>\n
While the\u00a0agreement between IronNet, founded by Alexander, and the cyber school was widely reported in intelligence industry outlets and the Saudi press at the time, it faced no scrutiny for its association with Qahtani, after the brutal killing of Jamal Khashoggi he reportedly orchestrated just a few months later.<\/p>\n
Alexander officially inked the deal with the Prince Mohammed bin Salman College of Cyber Security,\u00a0Artificial Intelligence, and Advanced Technologies \u2014 a school set up to train Saudi cyber intelligence agents \u2014 at a signing ceremony<\/a> in Washington, D.C., according to an announcement<\/a> in early July.<\/p>\n Qahtani\u2019s proxy at the signing noted in a statement that \u201cthe strategic agreement will ensure [Saudi Arabia is] benefiting from the experience of an advisory team comprising senior officers who had held senior positions in the Cyber Command of the US Department of Defense.\u201d Alexander\u2019s for-profit cyber security firm IronNet would work closely with the Saudi Federation of Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones, an affiliate of the college devoted to offensive cyber operations and at the time overseen by Qahtani.<\/p>\n\n Saudi Arabia\u2019s\u00a0agreement with IronNet was part of a host of moves to step up its cyber capabilities, coinciding with a campaign against the kingdom\u2019s critics abroad. Khashoggi, then a Washington Post columnist and prominent Salman critic, received a series of threatening messages, including one from Qahtani, warning him to remain silent. Khashoggi, whose family and close associates discovered listening malware electronically implanted on their smartphones, was then lured to the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul.<\/p>\n It was there that a team dispatched by Qahtani detained and tortured the Saudi government critic. Qahtani, according to reports, beamed in through Skype<\/a> to insult Khashoggi during the ordeal, allegedly instructing his team to \u201cbring me the head of the dog.\u201d Khashoggi was then dismembered with a bone saw.<\/p>\n IronNet\u2019s\u00a0agreement tied to the alleged mastermind behind the killing of Khashoggi is not listed on the IronNet website, and it is not known if the business relationship still stands \u2014 or what the extent of it ever was. IronNet and representatives of the Saudi government did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The Saudi Arabia relationship, according to former IronNet employees, has largely been shrouded in secrecy, even within the firm.<\/p>\n Qahtani\u2019s role of<\/u> enforcer on behalf of bin Salman, well known prior to the Khashoggi slaying, has closely followed the young prince\u2019s meteoric rise as the effective leader of Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n In 2017, Qahtani played a pivotal role in the abduction and interrogation of hundreds of Saudi elites, who were held captive at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, at which they were forced to pledge loyalty and money to Salman. Qahtani personally led the questioning efforts, according to reports.<\/p>\n Later that year, he reportedly participated in the interrogation of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who was beaten and forced to resign. The following year, according to the brother of Saudi women\u2019s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, Qahtani also directly participated in the torture of al-Hathloul<\/a>, where he mocked her and threatened to have her raped.<\/p>\n