14 DAY TRIAL // On Thursday, we learned that some Anonymous hackers had published around 1,800 email addresses and clear text passwords belonging to US Congress staffers.
“Dear Congress: We are paying very, very close attention to how you handle #NSA #FISA & #PRISM. Don’t [expletive] up,” the hackers wrote. “We mean it. This is a pivotal moment for America, and we will not tolerate failure.”
The hacktivists clarified that some of the passwords were removed from the leaked file.
“These are all current, valid credentials but they are not in the original pairings,” they noted.
Officials have responded to the allegation. It turns out that the hackers haven’t breached the networks of the House of Representatives.
Instead, the information was stolen from iConstituent, a Washington-based company that provides communication services for elected officials.
The company has not confirmed the breach, but according to The Hill, the House Chief Administrative Office has sent out a memo to staff, advising all those who have iConstituent e-newsletter accounts to change their usernames and passwords, especially if the same credentials are utilized for other online accounts.
The hackers have also confirmed for DataBreaches that iConstituent is the source of the leak.
On the other hand, officials say the leaked login information is outdated.
Terry Gainer, Senate Sergeant at Arms, has told The Hill that the passwords are not accurate, many of the accounts being “long expired.” Gainer claims the hackers had only limited access to iConstituent servers, but Senate computers have not been breached.
Some staffers are still concerned about the incident. Ian Koski, communications director for Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), says he hasn’t received any notification from the vendor, despite the fact that his email address is contained in the file leaked by the Anonymous hackers.
The incident is being investigated by US Capitol Police and the FBI.