A US government subcontractor working for the Pentagon has leaked personal data of some of the country’s high-ranking military officials.
Insufficient security in computer networks belonging to the Potomac Healthcare Solutions, which provides healthcare services to government and military organizations, was the source of the leak, ZDNet reported Saturday.
The leaked data included Social Security numbers to the assigned posts of important US military figures with the highest levels of security clearance, the report added.
Names, contract types, and duty start dates – dating back to 1998—were other confidential data available for everybody to see.
The major leak was first discovered by Chris Vickery, a lead security researcher of the MacKeeper Security Center.
According to samples provided by Vickery, most of the military personnel involved in the leak were members of the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
The victims included current and former…