Category Archives: classified information

FBI employee indicted for stealing classified info on FBI cybersecurity work

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A federal grand jury has charged an FBI employee for stealing classified documents and keeping them in her home between 2004 and 2017, the FBI announced Friday. The employee, Kendra Kingsley, allegedly took documents that detailed the FBI’s sources and methods the FBI uses to counter cyber threats, as well as those it uses in its counterterrorism and counterintelligence work, according to the indictment. Some of the documents detail specifics of investigations in multiple field offices, details on human sources and gaps in intelligence about foreign intelligence services, according to the indictment. The documents also detail technical capabilities the FBI uses in counterintelligence and counterterrorism work. In some cases, the documents contained information on al Qaeda members and emerging terrorism threats in Africa, as well as a suspected associate of Osama bin Laden, the FBI said. Kingsley worked for the FBI’s Kansas City division as an intelligence analyst, but was […]

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Democrats furious after intelligence officials cancel in-person election security briefings

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The Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday said it would provide election-security information to Congress through written materials rather than in-person briefings, sparking outrage among Democrats just two months before the presidential election. In letters to the House and Senate intelligence committees, among others, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said his office would provide lawmakers with “written finished intelligence products” on foreign threats to the election to prevent leaks of classified information and ensure the materials aren’t “misunderstood” or “politicized.” The move highlights the partisan fight over election security material as U.S. officials warn that Russia is once again interfering in the electoral process for the benefit of President Donald Trump. After one routine election-security briefing for lawmakers in February in which an intelligence official said Russia had a preference for Trump, the president was reportedly irate that Democrats received the information before he did. Trump […]

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Julian Assange accused of conspiring with Anonymous and LulzSec in superseding US indictment

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The U.S. government has broadened its criminal case against Julian Assange in an indictment unsealed Wednesday that accuses the WikiLeaks founder of collaborating with hackers affiliated with the Anonymous and LulzSec hacking groups
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Nuclear missile contractor hacked in Maze ransomware attack

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Attackers hacked and encrypted the computers of a contractor whose clients include the US military, government agencies and major military contractors. Continue reading Nuclear missile contractor hacked in Maze ransomware attack→

Cyber Command was worried that WikiLeaks dump would burn Operation Aurora intel, document shows

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When WikiLeaks released a trove of diplomatic cables in 2010 on everything from terrorism to Russian President Vladimir Putin to computer intrusions, it set off shockwaves through the Department of Defense and intelligence community over the knowledge being dumped into the public domain. Now we know that unauthorized release even impacted U.S. Cyber Command. A document obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request details Cyber Command’s knowledge of what was revealed in the infamous WikiLeaks dump. The document, a Cyber Command fusion cell situational awareness report, suggests the Pentagon knew who was behind a broad cyber-espionage operation known as Operation Aurora and was worried about that information becoming public, and what adversaries could learn about sensitive U.S. cyber-operations as a result The document, which was obtained by George Washington University’s National Security Archive and shared with CyberScoop, is a rare look into how Cyber Command, the DOD, and the intelligence community tracks adversaries in cyberspace and […]

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Judge rules proceeds from Snowden memoir belong to U.S. government

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A federal judge ruled Tuesday that any money former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden makes from his memoir or paid speeches must be given to the U.S. government because he did not receive approvals before the book was published. The judge notes in his decision that Snowden’s nondisclosure agreements with the government were unambiguous and required him to submit any writings for prepublication review. The book, “Permanent Record,” went on sale Sept. 17 from Metropolitan Books. “Snowden’s publication of Permanent Record without prior submission for prepublication review breached the CIA and NSA Secrecy agreement and the attendant fiduciary duties set forth in those agreements,” Judge Liam O’Grady writes. The civil suit against Snowden is the latest effort the U.S. government has undertaken to hold Snowden to account for his unlawful disclosure of classified NSA surveillance programs in 2013. Snowden also faces assorted criminal charges, including alleged violation the Espionage Act, which were […]

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Improve controls on classified information, inspector general tells U.S. intelligence community

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The federal government should do more to protect its most sensitive information from potentially being deleted or leaked by insiders, according to a new report from the intelligence community inspector general (ICIG). The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) must “improve controls to efficiently and effectively manage and mitigate the risk that a trusted privileged user could inappropriately access, modify, destroy, or exfiltrate classified data,” the intelligence community inspector general, Michael Atkinson, writes in the report. The potential for trouble extends even to classified information that is restricted to a trusted few at the ODNI, the report says. The ICIG’s specific recommendations about how to address the issue, of course, are classified. The semiannual report, released Tuesday, details a number of ongoing intelligence community programs and audits meant to boost the cybersecurity of the ODNI and the intelligence community writ large, among them projects on overhauling the security clearance process and efforts […]

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Republican congressman warns of mobile threats following SCIF storming

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After Republican lawmakers stormed a closed-door impeachment inquiry hearing Wednesday, one of their colleagues warned against bringing mobile devices anywhere near secure briefing rooms on Capitol Hill. In general, “if anybody brings a phone in, that’s a problem,” Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., told reporters Thursday, adding that such an action would “absolutely” be a security concern. Several House Republicans barged into a Sensitive Compartmented Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) on Wednesday, reportedly with their cell phones, disrupting an impeachment inquiry hearing on the Trump administration’s handling of aide to Ukraine. SCIFs allow lawmakers to review classified material in a secure setting, and any introduction of outside devices could leave the rooms susceptible to eavesdropping. In this case, one lawmaker said on Twitter that he was inside the secure facility, where outside phones are prohibited, though his staff later said it posted the tweet. Another congressman later made a phone call from the SCIF. The facility had to be […]

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Open Source Intel Helps Reveal US Spy Sat Capabilities

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On the 30th August 2019, the President of the United States tweeted an image of an Iranian spaceport, making note of the recent failed Safir launch at the site. The release of such an image prompted raised eyebrows, given the high resolution of the image, and that it appeared to …read more

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