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Classified US Documents Leaked on 4chan, Telegram, Discord, and Twitter (msn.com) 133

America's Department of Justice just launched an investigation into the leaking of classified documents from the U.S. Department of Defense, reports the Washington Post.

"On Wednesday, images showing some of the documents began circulating on the anonymous online message board 4chan and made their way to at least two mainstream social media platforms, Telegram and Twitter." Earlier Friday, The Washington Post obtained dozens of what appeared to be photographs showing classified documents, dating to late February and early March, that range from worldwide intelligence briefings to tactical-level battlefield updates and assessments of Ukraine's defense capabilities. They outline information about the Ukrainian and Russian militaries, and include highly sensitive U.S. analyses about China and other nations. The materials also reference highly classified sources and methods that the United States uses to collect such information, alarming U.S. national security officials who have seen them.... The material that appeared online includes photographs of documents labeled "Secret" or "Top Secret," and began appearing on Discord, a chat platform popular with gamers, according to a Post review.

In some cases, it appears that the slides were manipulated. For instance, one image features combat casualty data suggesting the number of Russian soldiers killed in the war is far below what the Pentagon publicly has assessed. Another version of the image showed higher Russian casualty figures. Besides the information on casualties that appeared to be manipulated to benefit the Russian government, U.S. officials who spoke to The Post said many of the leaked documents did not appear to be forged and looked consistent in format with CIA World Intelligence Review reports distributed at high levels within the White House, Pentagon and the State Department....

The documents appear to have been drawn from multiple reports and agencies, and concern matters other than Ukraine. Two pages, for example, are purportedly a "CIA Operations Center Intelligence Update," and includes information about events concerning Russia, Hungary and Iran.... Rachel E. VanLandingham, a former Air Force attorney and expert on military law, said that whoever is responsible for the leak "is in a world of hurt." Such breaches, she said, constitute "one of the most serious crimes that exist regarding U.S. national security...."

Skepticism abounded Friday among both Russian and Ukrainian officials aware of reports about the leaks, with each side accusing the other of being involved in a deliberate act of disinformation.

The Post notes one defense official told them "hundreds — if not thousands" of people had access to the documents, so their source "could be anyone."

But the photographs received by the Post were apparently taken from printed documents, and "classified documents may only be printed from computers in a secure facility, and each transaction is electronically logged, said Glenn Gerstell, a former general counsel with the National Security Agency who emphasized that he was speaking only about general procedures. "The fact that the documents were printed out should significantly narrow the universe of the initial inquiry."
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Classified US Documents Leaked on 4chan, Telegram, Discord, and Twitter

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  • Call up Trump (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    He can use his mind declassification powers and fix this whole thing!

    • He could if he were still President. Biden could do it right now.

  • by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Saturday April 08, 2023 @10:56AM (#63435042)

    In order of their probabilities.

    1) A Russian sympathizer in the US Military leaked the documents onto some kind of Russian pro-war forum where they kept recirculating until now.

    2) A Russian spy leaked it to Russian intelligence, who circulated it among military commanders and politicians until it leaked out onto forums.

    3) It's deliberate misinformation crafted by the US and "leaked" to the Russians to mislead them in some important way.

    • by cellocgw ( 617879 ) <cellocgwNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Saturday April 08, 2023 @11:00AM (#63435052) Journal

      You forgot

      4) Never attribute to malice that which can be done through stupidity and ignorance.

      • Exactly correct. Probably some idiot's laptop was hacked when he was staying in a Ukraine or Polish hotel. Or, he used the hotel printer to print out the docs.

      • That's a mantra for a different era. Not anymore. The leaks that the media have ignored are proof that the leaks they cover are not true leaks. If you ever find the media and government traveling in parallel, more likely than not they are cooperating in the construction of a narrative.

    • ...or someone who is seeing the true information knows that the public is being lied to to continue the conflict for as long as financially profitable for the liars.

      you're missing the obvious - a Whistleblower with the public interest at heart.

  • ..can I please ask that anyone who is seriously thinking of turning over classified military secrets NOT do it? While you may sympathize with another side and you may not particularly like our Military or Administration (whichever Party is in power at that time), it's just not worth it. At best your always looking over your shoulder wondering if you will every get arrested. At worst you go away for a bunch of years and have a Felony conviction on your record. So if you don't like what our side is doing and
    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Train0987 ( 1059246 )

      The public has a fundamental right to now when they're being lied to so egregiously by their own government.

      • Getting my popcorn ready. Alright, lay it out. What are we being lied to about?

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          He will be back to respond right after he finishes fellating Vladimir.

        • You don't find it suspicious that the country where Biden's son was getting paid $600,000/year for a do nothing job, Biden is now sending $200 billion in aid? All when the US economy is collapsing?

          And you don't find it a little odd that no one's asking where that money's even going?

          The better question is what aren't they lying about.

          • No not al all. Hunter never worked for the government and Joe was a citizen at the time. I am however much more suspicious of Jared Kusher getting a secret $2 billion check from the Saudi’s. https://www.businessinsider.co... [businessinsider.com]

          • The vast majority of the "money" is in plain sight. If the revealed documents are true, the "money" you are looking for is listed for all to see.

            I agree there is and was corruption and people skimming off the top, etc. Some people suck, they always have, and always will. I expect a lot of that will be cleaned up with ongoing American audits and Ukrainian efforts to be an effective democracy.

            The US absolutely has people asking questions and tracking results.

          • You don't find it suspicious...

            No and the only reason that YOU do is because you exist in a stinky fart bubble that is filled with your own bullshit.

      • by PPH ( 736903 )

        The public has a fundamental right to [k]now when they're being lied to

        The public isn't being lied to. They are being told that they don't have a right to see the information at this level of detail.

        In some cases, it appears that the slides were manipulated. For instance, one image features combat casualty data suggesting the number of Russian soldiers killed in the war is far below what the Pentagon publicly has assessed. Another version of the image showed higher Russian casualty figures.

        So, who's lying?

        • Sophistry. A lie by omission is still a lie.

          Classification is often abused by government to conceal corruption. The fact we've given Ukraine $200 billion, and we don't know what it's been used for, should be a crime.

          • You keep saying "we don't know what it's being used for". It's being used to turn a 3-day special operation into a 400-day war. 'Nuff said.

    • >At best your always looking over your shoulder wondering if you will every get arrested. At worst you go away for a bunch of years and have a Felony conviction on your record.

      SO what you're saying is each person should act purely in his own self-interest. That is the start and end of your ethics.
      • If you think about it though, discrediting the neocons ambitions for thermonuclear war could be in your self interest, even if the consequences are life in prison.
      • by GFS666 ( 6452674 )

        >At best your always looking over your shoulder wondering if you will every get arrested. At worst you go away for a bunch of years and have a Felony conviction on your record. SO what you're saying is each person should act purely in his own self-interest. That is the start and end of your ethics.

        Uh, no. What I'm saying is that to me, any person that divulges Military secrets has already forgone their ethics. To me, they don't have any. Someone may disagree with that but that's my position and I'm not changing it. I was coaxing the ramifications of their actions in blunt terms that they could understand. Basically, "Do you really want to do this such that your life is forever and irrevocably changed and you can never go back to it? Is it worth it?". If they do, that's their decision. But you better

    • classified documents may only be printed from computers in a secure facility, and each transaction is electronically logged,

      Don't worry. Someone in counterintelligence has downloaded the photos and is analyzing the microdot identification as we speak.

    • At worst, they shoot you.
  • Don't forget that most printers have secret watermarks that identify the individual printer.

    • ...which will not survive in some low res picture of them.

    • Don't forget that most printers have secret watermarks that identify the individual printer.

      I highly doubt that there aren't ways around that "classified documents may only be printed from computers in a secure facility" bit. I'm sure the security controls in place would stop a congressman - but not a tech-savvy spy.

  • by RightwingNutjob ( 1302813 ) on Saturday April 08, 2023 @12:26PM (#63435180)

    detect when flash drives are inserted?"

    -Reality Winner's google search
    https://nymag.com/intelligence... [nymag.com]

    But wait! They're playing 8-dimensional chess intentionally leaking crudely photographed printouts!

    Maybe. They certainly could. They certainly would. Or maybe they're all idiots who'd give a clearance to a squashed cockroach if it had a D next to its name when a Democrat is in power and an R next to its name when a Republican is in power.

    The latter has more explanatory power.

    • I have been out of the business of TS/SCI and lesser classified docs for a few years but when I was involved USB ports were disabled on classified systems. This was true for regular users. Sysads could always find a way around if they were inclined. Not sure how the DoD rolls these days.
      • The right way to secure USB ports is with epoxy
        • by PPH ( 736903 )

          Locked case, cover removal microswitches and unplug the USB ports from the motherboard.

          • Which doesn't stop someone from taking a picture of the screen with noone looking or squirreling out printouts.

            Always fight the last war, folks. You're bound to win it at some point. /sarc

            • by PPH ( 736903 ) on Saturday April 08, 2023 @05:05PM (#63435616)

              Which doesn't stop someone from taking a picture of the screen with noone looking

              I wouldn't be surprised if digital images of classified materiel contained rather robust watermarks.

              Some years ago on another forum, some people put up a challenge to see how persistent these (invisible) watermarks were. They posted a series of watermarked image copies, with unique (serialized) watermarks and challenged others to copy and re-post some of the image copies. And they would tell us which original we had copied. I brought a few up on my laptop (with a crappy display), photographed the display with a Canon A620 and reposted them to the forum. Their identification of my copies was spot on.

              Oh, and good luck sneaking a camera, cellphone or any other unapproved electronics into a secure facility.

              with noone looking

              Smile for the surveillance cameras in the ceiling.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Instead of being on war thunder's forum agian

  • 2016-2020 we got to enjoy nearly constant leaking from within that administration (and later, the Supreme Court), with the not-subtle approval / justification of the media and the left. These people were lauded as heroes by #TheResistance.

    Exactly how did you think this didn't normalize leaking for ANYONE who simply dislikes the current administration?

      This is the new normal, you morons.

  • " "classified documents may only be printed from computers in a secure facility,"

    Or just photograph them in some orange man's basement.

  • Seymour Hersh is no more reliable than the New York Times, Washington Post, National Public Radio or Asia Times. They all are only as reliable as their sources. And their sources choose the outlet for their story based on how they are likely to handle it. If Seymour Hersh's source had taken their story to the NYT or Post or NPR those folks would have immediately talked to their sources in the intelligence community, got a denial and dropped the story like a rock. By contrast Seymour Hersh first reaction, b
  • When will the Department of Defense upgrade their security? They need to find a vendor with a proven track record rather than accept the lowest bid.
  • "it's hard to know what's true, since everyone's likely lying" Killjoy.
  • I am shocked it was even reported.

    To be honest, China has ALL of out secrets.
    We are so compromised that the KKK (Klantanic Cult) can kidnap anyone's kid, and have no chance of getting caught, because they ARE the local police, and China pays them well.
    I do not believe there is a US base that is not compromised by China through the KKK.

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