NSA employee quits job after admitting aiding Snowden

A National Security Agency (NSA) employee has reportedly quit his job following an FBI probe in which he admitted that he allowed whistleblower Edward Snowden to access classified information about the alleged mass surveillance operations.

An agency memo stated that the unidentified employee was not aware of Snowden's intention of obtaining the data for the purpose of disclosure.

According to the Washington Post, the employee is one of the three people who have been under investigation for their unwitting involvement in Snowden's effort to remove the material in what may be the largest breach of classified information in history.

The two other people, a US military member and a contractor, had their access to NSA facilities and material revoked in August and they all worked at a regional NSA facility in Hawaii.

Claims made by media outlets last year that Snowden had persuaded between 20 and 25 fellow workers to give him their log-ins and passwords were fervently denied by him saying that he never stole any passwords, nor did he trick an army of co-workers.

The report said that it the resignation appeared to be the first personnel action to result from the breach that allowed Snowden to reveal classified data about the alleged mass surveillance programme targeting citizens and world leaders alike.