Leaked classified documents shake US intelligence community

Confidential US documents are believed to have been leaked since late last year (Illustration photo: EPA).

Unusual leak

US officials have been scrambling to find answers in recent days to what could be considered the worst leak of classified documents in years.

More than 100 classified documents of the US Department of Defense , including maps, charts and images, have been leaked on the internet. The classified documents are related to the activities of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

The Guardian quoted observers as saying that these documents are just "the tip of the iceberg" and were actually leaked long before they were widely disseminated.

Investigative journalism group Bellingcat traced the leak back through a series of channels used by various internet communities, mostly involving teenagers with interests ranging from military equipment to music to video games, all using Discord — a messaging platform popular with gamers.

The first leak began in October of last year and involved more documents than have been disclosed so far, sources say. The documents did not become widely publicized until late February, when one of the users, named Lucca, began posting 107 documents with images to a more widely used server. The most recent leaks were reported in early March.

On March 4, after a discussion about the war in Ukraine on a Discord server frequented by Minecraft players, a user wrote “Here, there are some leaked documents,” before posting 10 of them. It was an unusual type of leak, but hardly unique.

A blow to the US intelligence community

A series of leaked confidential documents could seriously affect US security (Illustration: Getty).

The leak represents a “very serious risk” to Washington, Defense Department spokesman Chris Meagher said on April 10. To prevent a larger crisis, the Pentagon has imposed extremely tight restrictions on intelligence sharing.

Western officials fear that Washington could limit its allies’ access to intelligence in the future. A senior intelligence official called the leak a “nightmare” for the Five Eyes (the intelligence-sharing group comprising the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada).

Gavin Wilde, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment who previously worked at the National Security Agency, said the leak exposed a disconnect between Washington’s intelligence-gathering capabilities and its ability to keep sensitive information secure. “I can’t imagine why it took them months to notice that classified material had been leaked,” he said.

"It's important to be aware that these types of documents can be leaked at any time," said Thomas Rid, a professor of strategic studies at the University of California. "But assuming that the enemy has access to them is different than knowing that they have access to them."

"Why are we still in this situation? Such serious intelligence leaks should be a thing of the past. Many new checks have been put in place, but clearly not enough. We need to review our data security processes," said Brett Bruen, a former White House official under the Obama administration.

According to former FBI official Joshua Skule, the current priority of President Joe Biden's administration is to determine the source and motive of the release and prevent document leaks.

The US investigation is still in its early stages. In a statement released earlier this week, a Discord representative said they would cooperate with the investigation, but could not provide any further details.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/vu-ro-ri-tai-lieu-mat-rung-dong-cong-dong-tinh-bao-my-20230411114114893.htm