Pentagon investigating Air Force engineer’s ‘critical compromise’ of communications across military branch: Forbes

Julia Shapero
·2 min read
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The Pentagon is investigating a “critical compromise” of communications within the Air Force, after an engineer at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee allegedly gained unauthorized access to radio communications technology affecting 17 Air Force facilities from home, Forbes reported.

The 48-year-old engineer, whose name Forbes did not disclose, reportedly took home nearly $90,000 worth of government radio technologies and gained “unauthorized administrator access” to the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command (AETC).

In a raid on the engineer’s home, law enforcement also found a computer running a software that “contained the entire Arnold Air Force Base (AAFB) communications system,” as well as evidence of possible access to the FBI’s and several Tennessee state agencies’ communications, according to a search warrant obtained by Forbes.

The engineer also had flash drives containing “administrative passwords and electronic system keys” for the AETC radio network, “local law enforcement radio programming files,” and files that warned they were government property and confidential.

A co-worker had reported the engineer on two occasions over “insider threat indicators” and his unauthorized possession of equipment, according to Forbes.

Defense officials announced earlier this month that they would alter how military personnel access classified information and put in place new measures to identify insider threats, after a junior Air National Guardsman allegedly leaked a massive trove of classified documents online.

Despite holding a relatively low-ranking position in the Massachusetts Air National Guard, 21-year-old Jack Teixeira had access to the Pentagon’s Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System as a technology support staffer.

Teixeira, who pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges last month, allegedly used his top-secret security clearance to access and post hundreds of documents with significant intelligence on adversaries and allies to the messaging platform Discord.

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