Congress Probes Disturbing String Of Suicides At NSA, Cyber Command
At least 11 employees at two of America's most powerful intelligence and cyber warfare agencies have died by suicide over the past year, prompting scrutiny from Congress and the White House.
At least 11 employees at two of America’s most powerful intelligence and cyber warfare agencies have died by suicide over the past year, prompting scrutiny from Congress and the White House.
The deaths occurred among military personnel, civilian employees and contractors working for the National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Cyber Command, including five suicides within roughly one month that military officials classified as a suicide cluster, according to The Japan Times. The deaths have prompted congressional inquiries and new restrictions on working hours as the agencies grapple with mounting operational demands from overseas conflicts, although officials have not determined that workplace pressures caused the suicides.
The Pentagon referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to CYBERCOM who did not respond for comment. NSA also did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
“The pace of operations right now at both NSA and Cyber Command can be overwhelming,” said Harry Coker Jr., a former senior executive at the NSA and Central Intelligence Agency told The Japan Times. “There is a lot of stress that a lot of us overlook because we think cyber is away from the front, and physically that’s accurate but intellectually and emotionally it’s inaccurate.”
From early June to early July, five employees at the NSA and Cyber Command took their lives. These were categorized as cluster suicides, a phenomenon defined as when “suicides or suicide attempts happen closer together in time, location, or both than expected,” per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The most recent suicide was in September.
This timeline of this cluster coincides with America shifting from a fragile ceasefire agreement with Iran to renewed fighting, according to