NSA deputy director says Snowden doing disservice to 'legitimate' whistleblowers

The US National Security Agency's deputy director has reportedly said that former NSA analyst Edward Snowden was doing a disservice to whistleblowers.

Richard Ledgett spoke in a video-link to a TED conference, where Snowden had appeared earlier in the week to present his views.

According to News24, Ledgett said that he wanted to weigh in at TED with the NSA perspective since Snowden has mixed 'kernels of truth' with misleading information.

The NSA whistleblower had promised that more sensational revelations about the US' alleged mass surveillance programmes would come.

The 33-year-old whistleblower has been holed up in Russia under a temporary asylum on charges of espionage.

Ledgett said that Snowden had alternatives to leaking NSA secrets and fleeing the country and he could have run his concerns up the chain of command; to any of an array of attorneys general, or to Congressional committees.

The NSA deputy director further insisted that characterizing Snowden as a whistleblower hurt legitimate whistle-blowing activities, the report added.