The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service are investigating a hacker who allegedly targeted top U.S. officials, according to published reports.
The suspect allegedly accessed accounts belonging to Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. He then revealed his activity to the New York Post, which described him as a “stoner high school student” in a story on Sunday.
The Post reported that the hacker obtained documents indicating he was successful in hacking the officials, including a 47-page application Brennan submitted for his security clearance and a screenshot of the billing page for Johnson’s Comcast account. He purportedly used a social engineering scheme that involved tricking Verizon workers into providing some of Brennan’s personal information.
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The hacker used Twitter to post more of the documents he obtained on Monday, such as an image that included redacted Social Security numbers for staffers at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
It wasn’t clear whether he used Brennan’s information to leverage access into Johnson’s account or whether he obtained access to the accounts independently. The fact that the accounts were accessed in such a manner almost certainly means that basic security precautions were not enabled.
That revelation is likely to surprise many, considering the aggressive effort by cybersecurity officials to get members of the intelligence community to secure their systems. The Post cited an unnamed law enforcement official who commented on that aspect, saying, “[The] problem with these older-generation guys is that they don’t know anything about cybersecurity, and as you can see, it can be problematic.”
The hacker said he was motivated by his support for Palestine, hashtagging several messages on Twitter as “Free Palestine” and “Free Gaza.” In a statement, the CIA said “We are aware of the reports that have surfaced on social media and have referred the matter to the appropriate authorities.” Homeland Security said it had “forwarded this matter to the appropriate authorities.”
