CIA-backed data mining firm Recorded Future recently released a report stating that the credentials of 47 government agencies have been leaked on the Internet and found across 89 different domains.
At least 12 of these agencies do not participate in two-factor authentication, a program set up as a “second layer of defense” to safeguard organizations in the event of a password leak. Recorded Future expressed concern at news of the leak, stating, “The presence of these credentials on the open Web leaves these agencies vulnerable to espionage, socially engineered attacks, and tailored spear-phishing attacks against their workforce.”
The credentials were found in different places across the web, but many were located on “paste sites” like Pastebin.com. In some instances, Recorded Future’s software immediately removed the sensitive information. Unfortunately, immediate removal does not guarantee that these credentials are not still being circulated privately by the original attackers.