US Nuclear Laboratory Breached by Purported 'Gay Furry Hackers'
One of the nation’s nuclear research facilities has been compromised by an online extremist group.
The Idaho National Laboratory confirmed Wednesday that data relating to its human resources division had been hacked, according to Engadget.
“On Monday, Nov. 20, Idaho National Laboratory determined that it was the target of a cybersecurity data breach in a federally approved vendor system outside the lab that supports INL cloud Human Resources services,” a spokesman said in a statement.
“INL has taken immediate action to protect employee data.”
SiegedSec — a group whose members bill themselves as “gay furry hackers” — took responsibility for the act in a statement.
meow meow, the sexy hackers at SiegedSec just breached the INL (Idaho National Laboratory) divulging thousands of data points such as – full name,date of birth,email address,phone number,social security number,address,employment info and more :3 https://t.co/B2quaNFxgF
— SiegedSec (@SiegedSecurity) November 20, 2023
The group framed demands to the facility with reference to juvenile internet rhetoric.
What could finally be 2023’s wildest tech news 🚨 🔔
This will sound like fiction, it is not.
A group “Sieged Sec” compromised of self described lgbtq furry hackers, breached the Idaho National Laboratory which conducts nuclear research for the fed.
Their demands? To study… pic.twitter.com/Aj38d2fQyr
— Benjamin Way (@BWay124) November 23, 2023
Earlier this year, the same group targeted states banning the mutilation of children, including Texas. “Texas happens to be one of the largest states banning gender affirming care, and for that, we have made Texas our target,” it said, according to Insider.
SiegedSec recently breached NATO computer systems and leaked information, according to Cyberscoop.
It has also targeted Israeli private companies.
SiegedSec attacked Israeli government’s devices, disconnected many alarms and sensors.
Hacked into Shufersal, Israel’s largest supermarket chains. Released documents, reports, software, and creds belong to Israir. #AnonymousGlobal #OpIsrael pic.twitter.com/1NfITDXjzX— Anonymous Global (@AnonGlobalNow01) November 16, 2023
A spokeswoman for the Idaho facility said federal authorities were investigating the breach, according to East Idaho News.
“INL has been in touch with federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency to investigate the extent of data impacted in this incident,” Lori McNamara said.
Data stolen in the breach included personally identifiable information of thousands of laboratory employees.
There’s no indication that sensitive nuclear information was stolen by the hackers.
The Idaho National Laboratory is one of the biggest employers in the state, taking credit for employing 5,022 people in 2020. The Department of Energy facility is managed by the Battelle Energy Alliance.
The site is designed for the production of nuclear energy rather than the development of nuclear weapons.
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