President Joe Biden’s Defense Department accidentally sent millions of emails and messages with sensitive information to the Russian-ally nation of Mali, the Pentagon confirmed. Officials said the communications were misdirected due to a common typo.
“The Department of Defense is aware of this issue and takes all unauthorized disclosures of Controlled National Security Information or Controlled Unclassified Information seriously. DoD has implemented policy, training, and technical controls to ensure that emails from the ‘.mil’ domain are not delivered to incorrect domains. Such emails are blocked before they leave the .mil domain and the sender is notified that they must validate the email addresses of the intended recipients,” the Pentagon said in a statement, according to Fox News.
“While it is not possible to implement technical controls preventing the use of personal email accounts for government business, the Department continues to provide direction and training to DoD personnel. The office of the DoD CIO oversees this matter,” the statement continued.
The leak comes amid rising tensions between the United States and Russia as the latter nation’s war in Ukraine stretches into its 17th month.
Earlier this month, United States Air Forces Central released footage showing Russian fighter jets “harassing” U.S. military drones operating in the skies above Syria.
“Russian SU-35 fighter aircraft close in on U.S. MQ-9 aircraft on July 5, 2023 over on July 5, 2023 over Syria. The Russian SU-35 fighter aircraft employed parachute flares in the flight path of U.S. MQ-9 aircraft. Against established norms and protocols, this forced U.S. aircraft to conduct evasive maneuvers,” United States Air Forces Central said in a statement.
According to Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, commander of the Ninth Air Force and the combined forces air component commander for U.S. Central Command, Russia’s “reckless behavior” forced American aircraft to take “evasive maneuvers.”
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
