NEW YORK, BRONX (ORDO News) — A recent incident involving an American hacker revealed a security glitch on the CIA’s X account (formerly known as Twitter).
The hacker, Kevin McSheehan, found a way to redirect potential informants to his own Telegram channel using a link on the CIA’s Twitter channel designed for covert communication with the agency.
The link on the CIA’s Twitter account was meant to offer informants ways to contact the agency, and much of the content was in Russian, aimed at enabling individuals within Russia to reach out to the CIA discreetly.
However, McSheehan discovered that the Telegram link on the CIA’s X page could be hijacked, allowing someone else to take control of it.
Kevin McSheehan, a self-proclaimed ‘pro-CIA patriot’ and ethical hacker, spotted this security vulnerability and decided to act.
He saw this as a potential risk to national security, particularly the interception of Western intelligence by adversarial nations like Russia, China, or North Korea.
By registering the unclaimed Telegram username, McSheehan redirected anyone who clicked on the link to his own channel.
Once there, he warned visitors not to share any sensitive information, effectively mitigating the risk.
The CIA’s X account has 3.4 million followers and provides a secure way to contact the agency, with the most prominent link being the Telegram channel.
The issue went unnoticed for several days, even though the truncated link “t.me/s/SecurelyCont” could have been exploited by malicious actors.
In response to the incident, the CIA has not provided an official comment. McSheehan attributed the problem to technical changes on X (Twitter), which he considered to be buggy and responsible for various issues related to links and text formatting.
Despite the security lapse, McSheehan commended the CIA’s integrity and acknowledged that everyone makes mistakes at times.
The incident was quickly resolved after being reported in the media. It serves as a reminder of the ongoing challenges in maintaining the security and integrity of online platforms, especially when dealing with sensitive matters related to national security and intelligence agencies.
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News agencies contributed to this report, edited and published by ORDO News editors.
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