According to the WikiLeaks Twitter feed, the organization has got hold of CIA chief John Brennan’s emails and plans to publish them.
The whistle-blowing organization may have got the emails from a teenage American hacker who claimed to have breached the accounts of top U.S. security officials. John Brennan’s personal emails were among those compromised, according to RT.
Twitter announcement from WikiLeaks
This Wednesday WikiLeaks took to Twitter to announce the news. “We have obtained the contents of CIA Chief John Brennan’s email account and will be releasing it shortly,” read one post.
Documents apparently belonging to Brennan have already appeared on Twitter, posted by a hacker who goes by the name of “cracka.” The teenager also claims to have hacked Brennan’s personal AOL account, gaining access to documents including the CIA chief’s application for top security clearance.
The first reports of the hack came on Sunday night, when the New York Post broke the story. The Post contacted the alleged hacker, who later told Wired that he had two accomplices.
Hacker reportedly motivated by Israel-Palestine conflict
According to reports the hacker claims to be acting in protest to U.S. foreign policy, especially related to Israel and Palestine. “It was really because the government are killing innocent people, they also fund (Israel) for killing innocent people,” he told CNN.
This kind of motivation appears to be similar to those of WikiLeaks, which suggests that the hacker may have passed on the information. The next question is what effects the leak could have, dependent on what information they contain.
The hacker told the Post that Brennan’s private account contained sensitive information like the security clearance application, while emails stored in his non-government account contained Social Security numbers and sensitive information relevant to over 12 top intelligence officials.
According to the hacker there was also a letter about “harsh interrogation techniques” used on terrorism suspects, but a law enforcement official told CNN that classified documents were not compromised.
The security breach is currently subject to investigation by the FBI and the Secret Service. The rest of us will have to wait until WikiLeaks publishes the emails to find out if they contain classified CIA information.
