On Friday, April 7th, the Justice Department and FBI began an investigation into what is being described by U.S. officials as “one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in decades”, which started on the social platform and messaging service primarily used by gamers known as Discord.
Discord Logo, Photo Courtesy: LOGO.com
The leaked documents labeled Secret and Top Secret, contain highly sensitive information relating to the Russo-Ukrainian War, detailing Ukraine’s military weaknesses, the positioning of Ukrainian forces, classified information about the different types of weapons and support provided to Kyiv, as well as their air defenses and military equipment.
The leaked documents also contain intelligence on several different nations including South Korea, Israel, and the United Kingdom. Some of the information that arose from these files include but are not limited to intercepted communications from members of South Korea’s national security council discussing whether or not to sell ammo that could go to Ukraine, screenshots from a Russian hacker showing how to access Canada’s natural gas infrastructure, and military intelligence from Russia planning to instigate an anti-Ukraine/anti-Western campaign in Africa.
Photo Courtesy: War on the Rocks
From January to March, an unknown member of a Discord server called “Thug Shaker Central” which contained about a dozen members, began leaking hundreds of sensitive U.S. documents. Sometime in early March, ten of the documents made their way into a Minecraft Discord server and on April 5th, a Russia propaganda account on Telegram posted an altered version of one of the documents, which showed a casualty count of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, altering the number of Ukrainian soldiers and citizens to be higher, and Russian soldiers to be lower.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday after the first reports of the leak that the city of Kyiv would be taking new measures to prevent any other leaks of military documents and plans. A spokesperson for the Ukrainian military intelligence said that the leak would not affect their cooperation with their allies, and that the leaking of the documents was an “…operation by Russia’s special services.” Many experts have doubted this claim, given the series of events leading to the leaking of the documents and the nature of the other content provided on the other documents, with Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, stating that it is unlikely that Russia was behind the original breach.
Before the Thug Shaker Discord server was terminated, it was stated that at least fifty documents containing secret as well as Top Secret classification had surfaced online. A Pentagon spokeswoman said on Sunday, April 9th, that the department was still validating the legitimacy of the documents, describing they “…appear to contain sensitive and highly classified material.”
The FBI and Justice Department are still trying to determine the original source of the leak, going over former and current employees, which goes into the hundreds.
“We don’t know the scope of it, so it is hard to assess.” A U.S. congressional aide said.
The recent Discord document leak is a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities in digital platforms. Classified U.S. intelligence, from Ukraine's military strategies to international espionage details, was exposed, sparking major security concerns. This breach highlights the critical need for stringent cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive information in our increasingly digital world. if you are looking for a joke fake diploma to replace an original that you may have with a fake document, check our website www.nd-center.com