Snowden downloaded NSA secrets while working for Dell, sources say

WASHINGTON:  Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden began downloading documents describing the US government's electronic spying programs while he was working for Dell Inc in April 2012, almost a year earlier than previously reported, according to US officials and other sources familiar with the matter.

Snowden, who was granted a year's asylum by Russia on Aug 1, worked for Dell from 2009 until earlier this year, assigned as a contractor to US National Security Agency facilities in the United States and Japan.