Intel officials’ emails posted after hack of cybersecurity group
Michael Isikoff, National investigative correspondent, NBC News:
The names and email addresses of hundreds of U.S. intelligence officials — including some senior officials in the Obama Administration — have been posted on an anti-secrecy website after computer hackers allegedly swiped them from the internal membership list of a prestigious national security organization.
The apparent cyberattack on the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, or INSA, is the latest example of the ability of hackers to penetrate the computer systems of government agencies and private companies — including those that pride themselves on their savvy and expertise in cybersecurity.
INSA — a nonprofit that bills itself as the country’s “premier intelligence and national security organization” and whose members include senior U.S. intelligence officials and government contractors — on Monday published a major report (PDF) warning of an urgent need for the country to beef up its cyberdefenses.
… snip ….The list also includes the names, emails — and in some cases the work addresses and telephone numbers — of hundreds of top executives at major government contracting firms that specialize in national security work, such as Northrop Grumman, Boeing, General Dynamics, SAIC and CACI. Some members, whose affiliations were not provided, had their home addresses and phone numbers listed.
The publication of the names of so many U.S. intelligence officials raises questions about whether it might have violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act — a law that forbids the public disclosure of the names of covert intelligence operatives. But McCarthy said she was unaware of any of the group’s members serving in a covert or undercover capacity. A U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, likewise downplayed the seriousness of the security breach.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44564804/ns/us_news-security/t/intel-officials-emails-posted-after-hack-cybersecurity-group/#.TnZUzE-oras
See also: John Young, founder of Cryptome
The Original WikiLeaker