Booz Allen Hamilton Shares Plunge On Reports Of NSA Contractor Arrest For Possible Secret Codes Theft

Shares of Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE: BAH) fell more than 4 percent after the New York Times reported that Harold Thomas Martin, one of the firm's National Security Agency contractors, had been arrested for possible theft of classified computer code.

The report said the F.B.I. is probing whether Martin "stole and disclosed highly classified computer codes developed to hack into the networks of foreign governments" such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

The Times, citing two officials, reported some of information the contractor is suspected of stealing was dated information.

The latest incident follows the Edward Snowden ordeal. Snowden was also a contractor for the agency and took several documents later passed to journalists, exposing NSA surveillance programs in the United States and abroad.

The Times, citing an official, said that investigators think Martin "is not politically motivated." The official was quoted as saying it's "not like a Snowden or someone who believes that what we were doing was illegal and wanted to publicize that."

At last check, Booz Allen Hamilton was down 3.94 percent at $30.27.

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