--- title: NSA Chief Michael Rogers Says Edward Snowden Leaks Not Irreparable description: Says leaks don't mean "the sky is falling" canonical: https://time.com/2940332/nsa-leaks-edward-snowden-michael-rogers/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-30T12:16:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:53:37.391Z article:section: Politics og:title: NSA Chief Michael Rogers Says Edward Snowden Leaks Not Irreparable og:description: Says leaks don't mean "the sky is falling" og:url: https://time.com/2940332/nsa-leaks-edward-snowden-michael-rogers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaae77aa611e67780/6986828355a8592c96a7f647/pol-snowden-130612.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, an analyst with a U.S. defence contractor, is interviewed by The Guardian in his hotel room in Hong Kong og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NSA Chief Michael Rogers Says Edward Snowden Leaks Not Irreparable twitter:description: Says leaks don't mean "the sky is falling" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaae77aa611e67780/6986828355a8592c96a7f647/pol-snowden-130612.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New NSA Chief: Snowden Didn't Do That Much Damage by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 30, 2014 12:16 PM UTC  NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden in a still image taken from video during an interview by the Guardian in his hotel room in Hong Kong on June 6, 2013 NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden in a still image taken from video during an interview by the Guardian in his hotel room in Hong Kong on June 6, 2013Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras—The Guardian/Reuters by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 30, 2014 12:16 PM UTC The head of the National Security Agency says in [a new interview](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/us/sky-isnt-falling-after-snowden-nsa-chief-says.html?%5Fr=1) that the massive leaks by former contractor Edward Snowden didn’t do irreparable damage to national security. “You have not heard me as the director say, ‘Oh, my God, the sky is falling,’” Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the new NSA director, told the [New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/us/sky-isnt-falling-after-snowden-nsa-chief-says.html?%5Fr=1) in an interview published Sunday. “I am trying to be very specific and very measured in my characterizations.” But Rogers did say terrorist groups have been using the leaked data to their advantage. “I have seen groups not only talk about making changes, I have seen them make changes,” he said. While at the NSA, Snowden was able to downloaded more than one million secret documents that detailed the agency’s wide-ranging surveillance efforts. Rogers said he’s working to ensure leaks will not happen again, but does not rule out the possibility. The key, he said, is to keep the volume of stolen data from reaching that of Snowden’s. “Am I ever going to sit here and say as the director that with 100 percent certainty no one can compromise our systems from the inside?” he said. “Nope. Because I don’t believe that in the long run.” \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/us/sky-isnt-falling-after-snowden-nsa-chief-says.html?%5Fr=1)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2940332/nsa-leaks-edward-snowden-michael-rogers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2940332/nsa-leaks-edward-snowden-michael-rogers/"},"headline":"New NSA Chief: Snowden Didn't Do That Much Damage","datePublished":"2014-06-30T12:16:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:53:37.391Z","description":"Says leaks don't mean \"the sky is falling\"","url":"https://time.com/2940332/nsa-leaks-edward-snowden-michael-rogers/","keywords":["intelligence","National Security Agency","Edward Snowden","Security"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaae77aa611e67780/6986828355a8592c96a7f647/pol-snowden-130612.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaae77aa611e67780/6986828355a8592c96a7f647/pol-snowden-130612.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, an analyst with a U.S. defence contractor, is interviewed by The Guardian in his hotel room in Hong Kong","caption":"NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, an analyst with a U.S. defence contractor, is interviewed by The Guardian in his hotel room in Hong Kong","creditText":"Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras—The Guardian/Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/intelligence/","name":"intelligence"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2940332/nsa-leaks-edward-snowden-michael-rogers/","name":"New NSA Chief: Snowden Didn't Do That Much Damage"}}]}] ```