General Electric (GE). has allegedly been hacked, and the hacker is offering stolen data, including Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) documents for sale on a hacking forum, raising national security concerns.
The hacker behind the alleged hack goes by the name of “IntelBroker” and was offering the stolen data for sale on the BreachForums hacking forum, which is not a dark web site but a regular internet forum.
As per the forum, the hacker is selling the stolen data, which includes SSH and SVN access, DAPRA-related military information, SQL files, and documents. The hacker does provide screenshots of the stolen information as proof of the hack.
IntelBroker was previously in the news in September following a data breach at DC Health Link, the District of Columbia’s health insurance exchange. The data stolen in that hack included Social Security numbers, dates of birth, email addresses and home addresses.
Officially, GE has neither confirmed nor denied that they were hacked, but the investigation is ongoing. Given GE’s role in the defense industry and the inclusion of documents from DAPRA, the breach may have serious U.S. national security implications.
GE and DARPA is in collaboration on a number of cutting-edge research initiatives over the years that could be attractive targets for cyberattacks, according to Rosa Smothers, a former CIA cyber threat analyst and current KnowBe4 vice president.
One collaboration of particular interest is the MIND [Monitoring & Inspection Device] project, which aims to improve the network security of crucial information systems and was initiated in response to an increased number of security breaches.
