A Tennessee-based engineer is being investigated by the Pentagon for a “critical compromise” of communications across 17 Air Force facilities. The unnamed engineer, who hasn’t been formally charged, is alleged to have taken home more than $90,000 worth of government radio technologies and gained “unauthorized administrator access” to the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command (AETC).
The security breach comes just three months after a junior Air National Guardsman allegedly leaked a massive number of classified documents online. Jack Teixeira, although relatively low-ranking, used his top-secret security clearance to post hundreds of Ukraine war documents on the Russians and allies to the messaging platform Discord.
In this new case, it was a civilian engineer working out of Arnold Air Force Base who apparently took advantage of lax security to walk off with an incredible amount of equipment and was able to access secure communications — including those of the FBI and the entire Arnold AFB communications system.
According to the warrant, “witnesses and co-workers” told investigators that the suspect “sold radios and radio equipment, worked odd hours, was arrogant, frequently lied, displayed inappropriate workplace behavior and sexual harassment, had financial problems, and possessed [Arnold Air Force Base land mobile radio] equipment.” A colleague had twice reported him because of “insider threat indicators” and unauthorized possession of Air Force equipment, investigators said.
According to his LinkedIn page, the suspect has a long history in cybersecurity as well as radio communications. He claims to have carried out numerous tests of the Arnold Air Force Base’s security, improved protection of radio communications on the site and had knowledge of the encryption used on government data.
He also had possession of a USB drive containing “administrative passwords and electronic system keys” for the AETC radio network. And he possessed “local law enforcement radio programming files” and “Motorola radio programming files,” which were clearly marked as being U.S. government property.
The government had been tipped off by a base contractor that the 48-year-old engineer had taken government radio technologies home, effectively stealing them for his own use, according to the warrant, which alleged the amount of pilfered equipment was worth nearly $90,000.
When law enforcement raided his home, they found he had “unauthorized administrator access” to radio communications tech used by the Air Education and Training Command (AETC), “affecting 17 DoD installations,” according to the warrant. The AETC is one of nine “major commands,” defined by the Pentagon as “interrelated and complementary, providing offensive, defensive, and support elements” to Air Force HQ.
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If the man’s LinkedIn page was correct, and it wasn’t just braggadocio, he was apparently involved in testing base security, including the secure communications systems. He would have been able to sign out equipment, but didn’t anyone ever check to see if he returned it?
“The suspect was running a Motorola radio programming software, ‘which contained the entire Arnold Air Force Base (AAFB) communications system,'” according to Forbes. The first thing you think of when hearing about the extent of the penetration is espionage. The fact that the warrant didn’t mention it means little. Given the breadth of the security breach, that investigation is surely ongoing and we won’t hear much about it until a determination is made about any foreign influence.
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