Cybersecurity
Pentagon and Microsoft Are Investigating Leak of Military Emails
- Leaked information included conversations, security clearances
- Error left servers publicly exposed without password
The Pentagon building in Washington, DC.
Photographer: AFP/Getty Images
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The Defense Department and Microsoft Corp. are investigating an error that exposed at least a terabyte of military emails including personal information and conversations between officials, people familiar with the matter said, an episode that highlighted the security risk of moving sensitive Pentagon data to the cloud.
The Pentagon’s Cyber Command has taken the lead on the investigation with Microsoft, which operates the Azure cloud-computing service that stored the data. Information on a U.S. Special Operations Command server was accessible without a password, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing information that hasn’t been publicly released.