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A group of hacktivists who describe themselves as “gay hackers” broke into the nuclear research laboratory at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and leaked the names of researchers online.
The leaked data included full names, dates of birth, email addresses and physical addresses, and the hackers posted it on their Telegram channel, with the group claiming to have accessed “hundreds of thousands” of details of users, researchers and citizens.
Although no nuclear research data was leaked, security experts said it was “worrying” that the names of America’s top nuclear researchers were leaked online.
The laboratory has been involved in nuclear research since the 1940s (Google Maps).
Siegedsec Group has not made any financial claims, and security experts at SOCRadar suggest that the hackers are doing their attacks “for fun,” suggesting they could be between 18 and 25 years old.
The group has previously leaked data from organizations such as NATO and Atlassian, and leaked the data publicly online rather than attempting to demand ransom.
INL confirmed it was the victim of a cyberattack, with spokesman Laurie McNamara saying it was confirming the extent of the breach.
“Earlier this morning, Idaho National Laboratory determined that it was the target of a cybersecurity data breach, affecting servers that support its Oracle HCM system, which supports its human resources applications,” McNamara said.
INL took immediate action to protect employee data.
“INL has been in contact with federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to investigate the extent of data affected by this incident.”
Idaho National Laboratory has been involved in nuclear reactor research since 1949, and the organizations have built more than 50 reactors at the site.
The 890-square-mile complex employs up to 5,700 people and is currently involved in research into new nuclear reactor technology.
SiegedSec is known for its corny jokes and has maintained a Telegram channel since spring 2022.
The group published snapshots of the tools used in the laboratory (Telegram)
“Meow meow, we have made it to the Idaho National Laboratory,” the group said in a post on Telegram. Well, great data, we had access to hundreds of thousands of user, employee and citizen data.’
“We are willing to make a deal with INL if they look into creating real cat girls, we will remove this post.”
The group posted screenshots of internal tools used in the lab as evidence of the hack.
The group has previously defaced websites and leaked information from several government websites with data leaked from at least 30 different organizations.
The group appears to have ties to other hacking groups including GhostSec, and appears to attack targets for fun, not profit, according to SOCRadar.io.
Idaho National Laboratory is one of 17 national laboratories that make up the U.S. Department of Energy complex and is considered critical national infrastructure.
INL hosts advanced nuclear reactor research (AP)
said security expert Colin Little, a security engineer at Centripetal Dark reading: Although the media surrounding this event claims that no nuclear secrets, intellectual property, or R&D information was accessed or stolen, which is fortunate, it is extremely troubling that the employees who produce that intellectual property and are involved in the most advanced R&D In the field of nuclear energy their information has been leaked online.
“Now those who are politically motivated and desperately want to know the names and addresses of top nuclear energy researchers in the United States have this data, too.”
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