A decade after National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked a giant cache of top-secret documents about surveillance and other intelligence activities, the U.S. government is still unable to protect against such breaches.
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IN BRIEF:
US Department of Justice launches probe into the possible leak of intel related to Ukraine, China and the Middle East.
"The United States is scrambling to identify the source of a possible leak of highly-classified documents that appear to reveal sensitive details about US allies, including Ukraine’s vulnerabilities in its war with Russia.
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The Pentagon said on Sunday it had made a formal referral to the
Department of Justice, asking it to investigate the apparent leak of the
documents, which have been circulated on social media sites, including
Twitter. *
The documents, which resemble non-public daily updates produced by the US military’s Joint Staff, appear to contain intelligence related to Ukraine, China, the Middle East and Africa...US officials have told the Reuters news agency they have not ruled out the possibility the documents have been doctored to conceal their origin or spread false information that could damage US security interests..."
* Information Update today by published on Axios, "Although apparently classified photos began circulating on Russian Telegram channels last week, investigative journalism group Bellingcat notes they emerged on the platform Discord in early March and some documents may have been posted in January.
UPDATE 6 hours ago
How will the Ukraine document investigation work? A former DOJ 'leak czar' explains
"The Justice Department is working with the Pentagon to investigate how classified U.S. documents about the war in Ukraine ended up on social media platforms. Patrick Semansky/AP
Days after classified U.S. documents on the war in Ukraine surfaced on social media, the Pentagon and Justice Department are scrambling to figure out how they got there, what damage they could cause and whether any more might be on the way.
To recap: A small number of secret military documents were found on Twitter and Telegram on Wednesday, and researchers and social media sleuths have since discovered more on other sites — some posted as early as March 1.
The documents viewed by NPR appear to be briefing slides — put together daily for top Pentagon and national security officials — focused on Ukraine, with maps and charts pertaining to their troops and weapons, national security correspondent Greg Myre told Morning Edition.
Their discovery comes as Ukraine prepares to launch a counteroffensive sometime this spring, and it's not yet clear what kind of impact the new material could have on the trajectory of the war.
While there's still a lot we don't know, former Justice Department "leak czar" Brandon Van Grack says national security damage has certainly been done.
"The only debate now is how much damage there was and the threat is still live," he says.
"We don't know if the individual or individuals still have access to classified information and whether there could be additional leaks, and so right now this has to be the top priority."
Van Grack held multiple national security-focused roles at the Justice Department, including leading the investigation into Edward Snowden after the then-National Security Agency contractor leaked thousands of documents in 2013. Van Grack is now a partner at Morrison & Foerster, which represents Discord — one of the sites where the Ukraine documents were shared.
He spoke with Morning Edition's A Martínez on Monday about what could be happening behind the scenes as law enforcement and intelligence officials work together to try to plug the leak and remediate the damage.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity..."
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ABOUT DISCORD:
Discord looks to grow beyond its gaming roots 
- Ina Fried, author
- Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
"Discord began in 2015 as a way for gamers to talk to one another before, during, and after play. Now, the chat company is pursuing a far broader vision: to be the Slack for your non-work life...
How it works:
- Discord allows people to create their own online community space, to set and enforce rules and decide whether to remain invite-only or open it to the public.
- Users can share messages in various channels, chat privately and have group discussions. More recently, the company has added group video chat.
- Discord calls each community's space a "server," but it's not a server in the sense of a separate computer controlled by the user. Users can run servers without needing system-administrator knowhow.
- This arrangement has pros and cons. It means Discord controls the data and is responsible for complying with law enforcement. But it also means the service can enforce its own code of conduct, handling trust, safety and security.
What they're saying: "We view it as mostly a benefit," CEO Jason Citron told Axios. "It gives us the ability to ensure that Discord is a safe place to talk."
Flashback: When the site realized after the 2017 Charlottesville rally that white supremacists were using the chat platform to organize, Discord acted quickly and publicly, Citron said. "We wanted to make clear Discord would be a hostile place for extremist behavior."
The big picture: Citron said Discord is trying to enable online social spaces that can serve different functions.
- In the real world, an auditorium looks quite different from a classroom from a coffee shop, with each design offering cues to how the space is used.
- Discord, which has more than 100 million monthly active users, is trying to create similar types of spaces online.
- In part to fuel that expanded vision, Discord raised $100 million in June, led by Index Ventures, valuing the company at a reported $3.5 billion.
What's next: At the top of Citron's list is getting more people outside the gaming world to know about Discord.
- "It is a new way to talk and spend time," he said. "If you don't really dive into it you can miss the magic of the service."
VIDEO
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RECENT
New Details on Intelligence Leak Show It Circulated for Weeks Before Raising Alarm
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The secret documents were first posted in January to a small group on a messaging channel that trafficked in memes, jokes and racist talk
"One of the most significant leaks of highly classified U.S. documents in recent history began among a small group of posters on a messaging channel that trafficked in memes, jokes and racist talk.
Sometime in January, seemingly unnoticed by the outside world, an anonymous member of a group numbering just over a dozen began to post files—many labeled as top secret—providing details about the war in Ukraine, intercepted communications about U.S. allies, such as Israel and South Korea, and details of American penetration of Russian military plans, among other topics.
The documents, which appear to have numbered in the hundreds, stayed among the members of the tiny group on the Discord messaging platform until early March, when another user reposted several dozen of them to another group with a larger audience. From there, at least 10 files migrated to a much bigger community focused on the Minecraft computer game. . .
The group’s members saw hundreds of classified files before the channel was wiped clean,.. Most members are based in the U.S. The identity of the original poster remains unknown.
How the heck are we back here again?” said Brett Bruen, president of Global Situation Room, a national security consulting firm, and a former White House official in the Obama administration. “These kinds of large scale security breaches were supposed to be a thing of the past. New controls and checks were put in place. Yet, clearly it wasn’t enough and we need a major rethink [and] revision to the classified protection process.”
Who had access
The Wall Street Journal wasn’t able to independently authenticate the documents, but they contain enough detail to give them credibility. Defense officials have said they believe some of the documents could be authentic. . .
In total, just over 50 documents with Secret and Top Secret classification markings have surfaced so far, and have been viewed by the Journal and a variety of independent intelligence analysts. A critical question is who had access, and when, to the hundreds of others that were posted in the original group between January and March, and how significant are the secrets that these files contain.
The U.S. intelligence community is expected to take measures to protect the sources and methods used in the collection of data in that material. “You have to assume it is compromised,” said Thomas Rid, professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University. “But assuming that the adversary has it is one thing, knowing it is another.”
The probe into the leak will be among the FBI’s top priorities as investigators search for who had access to the information, and who would have motive to make it public, said Joshua Skule, a former FBI senior executive who is now the president of the government contracting firm Bow Wave.
... Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in a Telegram post that it was unlikely that Russia was behind the original intelligence breach.
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...Mr. Zelensky reacted to the leak by ordering new measures to clamp down on unauthorized disclosures of military information. The U.S. has also changed how military personnel access such documents, defense officials said last week.
The most damaging files, security analysts say, are the roundups of vetted intelligence material compiled in the Central Intelligence Agency’s operations center intelligence update. They include information on conversations that the U.S. had intercepted within allied governments, such as communications of the leaders of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and discussions among members of South Korea’s national security aww council on whether to sell ammunition that could end up in Ukraine.
✓ Even more sensitive is the information that appears derived from the U.S. penetration of the Russian government, such as details on how a Russian hacker shared screenshots with the FSB security service on accessing Canada’s natural-gas infrastructure, internal Russian ministry of defense deliberations on supplying ammunition to the Wagner paramilitary group, and plans by Russian military intelligence to foment an anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian campaign in Africa.
Aric Toler, head of research and training at the Bellingcat investigative consortium, which has carried out several probes of Russian intelligence operations, said that he has been in touch with three original members of the Discord group..."
Russia Laps Up ‘Interesting’ Leaked Pentagon Documents
“They are all being studied, analyzed, widely discussed,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson said.
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"After a trove of classified U.S. intelligence documents leaked online, the Kremlin has taken the opportunity to twist the knife and delight in what may prove to be one of the most major American security breaches in recent years.
The Justice Department
has launched an investigation into the leaks, which have led to a
series of embarrassing revelations, including the extent of U.S.
involvement in the war in Ukraine and allegations that American spies collected intelligence on their own allies, including Israel and South Korea..."
Experts say the breach may have been intended to damage U.S. and NATO efforts to help Ukraine.
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