Teen says he hacked into CIA director's email account

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

last updated 20 October 2015

The FBI is looking into an anonymous hacker's claim that he gained access to CIA Director John Brennan's private email account and stole several files, U.S. officials said Monday.

The documents apparently include a list of Social Security and phone numbers of senior U.S. national security officers, a log of calls made by a former CIA deputy director, and email contacts from Brennan's AOL account, The Washington Post reports. A CIA spokesman said the agency is aware of the reports "and have referred the matter to the appropriate authorities." Officials say the Secret Service is also looking into claims that the hacker was able to extract private information from Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson's Comcast account.

A person claiming to have hacked into Brennan's email spoke with the New York Post Monday, telling them he was motivated by opposition to U.S. foreign policy and his support of Palestinians. The New York Post says the anonymous hacker is a "stoner high school student" who said he was able to gain access by pretending to be a technician for Verizon, then tricking the company's technical support department into giving him Brennan's account number, password, and other details. He then called AOL, said he was Brennan, and requested a password change. The hacker said Brennan's account was used to store sensitive files, including a 47-page application for a top security clearance, and also claimed he started calling Brennan in August. During one incident, he recited Brennan's Social Security number, and Brennan hung up. The New York Post says once Brennan discovered his account had been compromised, the hacker's access was cut off.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.