Pentagon Reviews Dialog Data Exposure Affecting National Security Officials
6 reported1 unconfirmed
A data exposure at Dialog, a private events group cofounded by Peter Thiel, exposed personal information of multiple US national security personnel, including an intelligence official on the National Security Council and an active-duty intelligence officer supporting sensitive military operations, according to WIRED. The Pentagon is now examining the matter. The White House asked WIRED not to name the NSC official on national security grounds but otherwise declined to comment. Dialog has internally characterized the exposure as a “cyberattack,” but WIRED found the files appear to have been exposed because of a misconfiguration in the group’s own website. The discovery began with a tip received by a Swiss DJ and cybersecurity researcher, maia arson crimew. Outside counsel for Dialog demanded WIRED turn over its copy of the data, but WIRED declined. Dialog did not respond to questions submitted for this story.
What’s reported
The data exposure included personal information and login tokens of 222 Dialog event registrants, including current and former senior military and national security officials from the US and its allies.
Among those exposed are an NSC intelligence official (a former CIA officer) and an active-duty intelligence officer embedded with a “Tier 1” special operations unit.
The files included date of birth, home address, mobile number, headshot photo, private authentication token, political leanings, and survey responses.
The Pentagon told WIRED on Tuesday that its operations security team is examining the matter.
WIRED is withholding the names of the NSC official and the military intelligence officer, and the unit to which the latter is assigned, because identifying them could put their safety and work at risk.
How long the records were accessible, and who else may have obtained them, remains unclear.
Open questions
How long the records were accessible, and who else may have obtained them.
Key figures
Peter Thiel (cofounder of Dialog)
maia arson crimew (Swiss DJ and cybersecurity researcher who received the tip)
Bradley Moss (national security lawyer quoted in the article)
President Donald Trump (mentioned as the president the NSC official advises)
An unnamed NSC intelligence official (former CIA officer)
An unnamed active-duty military intelligence officer
Sources: Wired
