Eric O'Neill
| Eric O'Neill | |
|---|---|
O'Neill giving a speech to the junior and senior classes of Hermitage High School, Richmond, Virginia.
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| Born | March 3, 1973 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education |
Auburn University The George Washington University Law School |
| Occupation | Public speaker/security expert, lawyer |
| Employer | Global Communities |
| Known for | Robert Hanssen investigation |
| Spouse(s) | Juliana O'Neill |
| Website | www |
Eric Michael O'Neill (born March 3, 1973) is an American former FBI counter-terrorism and counterintelligence operative. He worked and was entitled as an Investigative Specialist with the Special Surveillance Group (SSG) and played a major role in the arrest, conviction, and life imprisonment of FBI agent Robert Hanssen for spying on behalf of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. He is a public speaker and security expert who currently lectures internationally about espionage and national security, cybersecurity, fraud, corporate diligence and defense, hacking, pursuing dreams and surviving Hollywood.
O'Neill graduated from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., in 1991 and earned a B.A., with Honors, in Political Science and Psychology from Auburn University in 1995, where he was a brother of Theta Xi fraternity.
After a career as a counterintelligence and counter-terrorism field operative, O'Neill was assigned to report to Hanssen in the newly established Information Assurance Section. His true role was to learn as much as possible about what secret information Hanssen had deliberately divulged to the Soviet Union and Russia. Ultimately, investigators made a dramatic move to obtain a "smoking gun." While others briefly disrupted Hanssen's routine and confidence, maneuvering him into relaxing his rigid control of his Palm Pilot, O'Neill, under intense time pressure, obtained Hanssen's PDA, took it to FBI technical staff to download its encrypted contents, and returned it, apparently undetected. O'Neill notes that he could not recall which pocket he had taken the device from, and has speculated that had Hanssen detected the disturbance of his device, he would have realized that all hope of continued freedom was lost and might have shot O'Neill dead on the spot.
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Wikipedia