US official: Intel chief's online personal accounts hacked

Purported high school hacker succeeds in breaching personal emails of directors of national intelligence and CIA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just months after reports that someone was hacking CIA Director John Brennan’s personal email, a US intelligence official is confirming that online personal accounts linked to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also have been hacked.

DNI spokesman Brian Hale said Tuesday that Clapper’s office is aware of the hacking and has reported the incident to appropriate authorities. He declined to provide other details.

An individual not authorized to discuss details who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was aware of the hacking incident before it was first reported Tuesday by Motherboard, an online magazine and video channel on science and technology. Motherboard reported that the same teen-age hacker who broke into Brennan’s account also targeted Clapper.

Brennan said in October that he was outraged that someone hacked his personal email account and publicized sensitive data, including his contact list and his wife’s government ID number. The hacker has said he is a high school student protesting US policy. He said he fooled Verizon into providing him access to Brennan’s account.

Brennan denied any impropriety on his part and said the hacking incident underscores that everyone is vulnerable to the compromise of personal information on the Internet.