Digital Forensics Dispatch

Another Former Government Employee Arrested for Espionage

May 28, 2019

On May 17, 2019, a former CIA case officer was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for transferring information to an agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Kevin Mallory, of Leesburg, Virginia travelled to Shanghai to meet with an individual working for a Chinese think tank. Mallory quickly surmised that the individual was a Chinese intelligence officer working for the PRC Intelligence Service (PRCIS).

FBI investigators reviewed communications between Mallory and the Chinese intelligence officer on a Samsung Galaxy smartphone. Forensic analysis revealed numerous communications regarding classified information and that Mallory had succeeded in transmitting at least two documents to the intelligence officer. Communications about the documents were found as well.

Along with evidence recovered from his smartphone, evidence at the trial included surveillance video of Mallory at a FedEx store in Leesburg, Virginia scanning classified documents to a micro SD card. He paid the FedEx store to shred the physical documents, but after a search of his home, FBI agents were able to find the micro SD card containing the classified documents that he had previously scanned.

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