The new head of Britain’s security service said in a speech late Tuesday that intelligence leaks, such as those passed on by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, are a “gift” to terrorists, NBC News reported. Andrew Parker said the leaks caused “enormous damage” to the British equivalent of the National Security Agency, the Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ). Although he did not mention Snowden by name he said that the security capabilities made public by media reports based on documents he stole were incredibly harmful. “It causes enormous damage to make public the reach and limits of GCHQ techniques. Such information hands the advantage to the terrorists,” said Parker who led Military Intelligence Section 5's response to the 7/7 London bombings and took over as its Director General in April. “It is the gift they need to evade us and strike at will.” The 30-year-old former CIA contractor who divulged details about NSA and Britain's GCHQ has not been seen since Russia granted him temporary asylum in August.
