Security News > 2023 > December > Discord in the ranks: Lone Airman behind top-secret info leak on chat platform

The US Air Force reached that conclusion in an August report [PDF] made public yesterday into the actions of Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira, who was arrested in April on suspicion that he had stolen and shared classified military documents on a private Discord server that later found their way to the wider internet - and, presumably, into the hands of foreign governments.

Per the USAF report, Teixeira "Was observed viewing intelligence content on TS-SCI websites" in August 2022, and while his supervisor was informed, the incident wasn't otherwise documented.

While Teixeira was confronted, told to shred the note, and the incident was documented in writing, "It was never verified what was written on the note or whether it was shredded." Neither the Post-It incident nor the August incident were reported to security officials, the USAF found.

In October 2022, "Teixeira asked very detailed questions and even attempted to answer questions using suspected TS-SCI information he did not have a need to know," the USAF said.

In addition to the direct leadership failure to stop Teixeira's actions, the USAF report found several systemic failures in his unit's structure that contributed, including a lack of supervision of the night shift on which Teixeira served.

Along with Teixeira's imprisonment and pending trial, 15 Air National Guard leaders have been disciplined for their failure to act, ranging from non-commissioned officers all the way up to high-ranking leadership.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/12/12/us_air_force_discord_leaker/