The communications systems of 17 Air Force facilities faced a “critical compromise” after government radio technology worth $90,000 was stolen by a Tennessee-based engineer, as per a search warrant.
The breach may have also impacted the communications of the FBI, as per the warrant which was accessed by Forbes. A contractor, who used to work with the Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma, Tenn, tipped off the government after which the home of the engineer was recently raided.
The 48-year-old engineer, who has not been charged with any crime by the police as of now, was not identified by Forbes. The engineer allegedly had “unauthorised administrator access” to radio communications technology that was being used by the Air Education and Training Command (ATEC), and this was “affecting 17 Department of Defence installations,” as per the report published in Forbes on Saturday (July 29).
The potential compromise of technology used by the AETC, which is among the nine “major commands,” is defined by the Pentagon as “interrelated and complementary” which gives support to Air Force headquarters. This came just three months after another breach of security in the Pentagon was reported.
The sensitive information, related to the Russia-Ukraine war, was allegedly leaked by Air National Guard employee Jack Teixeira on the social platform Discord. For months, Teixeira pleaded not guilty.
Air Force engineer’s home raided
When the raid was carried out at the Air Force engineer’s home, an open computer screen was found by the authorities which showed that the suspect was running radio programming software “which contained the entire Arnold Air Force Base communications system,” reported Forbes.
Authorities further stated that they discovered evidence of the engineer having access to FBI and Tennessee state agencies, however, they did not speak about what kind of information may have been compromised.
The media report further stated that, as per the warrant, a document which detailed the forensics on technologies seized from the home of the engineer revealed that he was in possession of a USB which contained “administrative passwords and electronic system keys” for the AETC radio network.
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Other items which were seized were flash drives that contained “local law enforcement radio programming files” and “Motorola radio programming files” which had a warning banner indicating they were government property.
Installer files, which the authorities recovered in the search, opened with a “CONFIDENTIAL RESTRICTED” pop-up, as per Forbes.
The warrant also stated how the investigators were informed by the witnesses and co-workers that the engineer allegedly “sold radios and radio equipment, worked odd hours, was arrogant, frequently lied, displayed inappropriate workplace behaviour and sexual harassment, had financial problems, and possessed [Arnold air force base land mobile radio] equipment”.
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