US Air Force at risk from identity fraud

The US Air Force is warning that nearly half its officer corps may be at risk from identity fraud after a hacker broke into its databases.

Major General Anthony Przybyslawski, commander of the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, warned that during May and June a hacker, described as a "real scoundrel" broke into the Air Force's Assignment Management System, which holds career and financial information on Air Force personnel.

Przybyslawski told the armed forces magazine Stars and Stripes’ that only about 20 officers had actually suffered loss due to the attack.

The attacker apparently used a legitimate login account that had wide access privileges to other data. Investigators were tipped off when the account started registering higher than usual levels of activity.

This is not the first time the US military's computer infrastructure has been hacked. In 2002, Londoner Gary McKinnon managed to get into US Navy systems by using the word ‘password’ or ‘admin’ to access accounts.

McKinnon is currently fighting extradition to the US, but claims that when he was on the Navy systems he regularly encountered other hackers snooping around. He faces a possible 70 years in jail for his activities.