The FBI has arrested at least one former NSA contractor for allegedly stealing and sharing highly classified "source code" used to hack into the computer networks belonging to Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

The New York Times reported that the contractor was secretly arrested weeks ago and that he worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, the consulting firm hired by the U.S. government to build and maintain certain cybersecurity measures. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has also leaked government secrets, worked for the same firm.

It's the second time in three years that someone from inside government operations has allegedly stolen classified information from the NSA. In 2013, Snowden retrieved highly classified data exposing the NSA's controversial surveillance methods and passed the information along to journalists. While some see Snowden as a "patriot" for exposing something that was later determined to be unconstitutional, others have called him a traitor for putting national security at risk.

Edward Snowden (AP Photo/The Guardian, File)

—

Follow the author of this story on Twitter and Facebook:

Follow @jonstreet