Update: June 15, 2020
Paul Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage against the United States. As stated in the original post, an IT professional who cannot access “photos” on a flash drive, which later became the alleged vehicle for trading information, is a significant red flag that something more serious may have been occurring.
Update: February 3, 2019
“I want to tell the world that I am a victim of political kidnap and ransom,” Whelan said during a press conference in May. “This is retaliation for sanctions.”
“There are abuses and harassment that I am constantly subject to. There is a case for isolation,” he continued, before listing alleged abuses committed by prison staff.
The former Marine said he was being subjected to “typical POW Chapter 1 isolation” techniques intended to break him down and described his imprisonment as having a “Salem witch trial mentality.”
According to Reuters, Whelan made a direct plea to the President of the United States, stating, “Mr. President [Trump], we cannot keep America great unless we aggressively protect and defend American citizens wherever they are in the world.”
It is not every day that a “flash drive” appears in international espionage headlines. However, American citizen Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia and charged with espionage, with a USB flash drive playing a central role in the case.
Based on reporting surrounding the arrest, Whelan is a former Marine who frequently traveled to Russia. He worked as a security professional for a U.S.-based auto parts supplier, BorgWarner, spoke Russian, and used the Russian social media platform VKontakte, commonly referred to as VK.
According to reports, the arrest unfolded as follows: Whelan met with a Russian associate who handed him a USB flash drive. Earlier in the trip, Whelan claimed he had received digital vacation photos but was unable to view them on his computer. Because of this, he requested that the images be transferred to a flash drive.
Moments after the exchange took place, Russian police arrested Whelan and later claimed the USB flash drive contained state secrets.
Whelan has maintained that he had no knowledge of any sensitive information on the flash drive and believed it contained only vacation photos. If true, one can only hope he is given a fair opportunity to prove his innocence.
Additional background information about Paul Whelan includes the following.
He served for 14 years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and was discharged in 2008 for bad conduct.
The discharge stemmed from a conviction involving the attempted theft of $10,410 in U.S. currency. He was accused of misusing another individual’s Social Security number and writing bad checks. Poor decisions early in life are not uncommon, though they can cast long shadows.
Playing devil’s advocate, the most troubling detail remains the claim that a security-focused IT professional could not open digital image files. Regardless of file format, that task is typically straightforward. If nothing else, this situation highlights the importance of using write-protected USB flash drives when traveling internationally. You never know how a simple device could be interpreted or misused.
Sources: CNN and GetUSB.info
