On Tuesday morning, a hacker going by the name Johnnie Walker sent a group email to an unknown number of recipients claiming to have a trove of emails from the private account of a U.S. intelligence official.The U.S. State Department officers email has been hacked, the email announced, and included at least two years worth of personal emails from the private Gmail account of a State Department official working in the secretive intelligence arm of the State Department focusing on Russia.The sender said the archive included exchanges between the official and CIA officers and other intelligence agencies, mainstream media, NGOs, and international funds that would give you evidence of who is responsible for agenda formation in many countries worldwide, especially where the situation is insecure.The official involved is in a senior position in the State Departments Bureau of Intelligence and Research, according to a 2017 department directory. Even though the officials name is public, Foreign Policy is not identifying him at the departments request, citing security concerns. The emails, from a nongovernment account, include personal information.The State Department did not confirm or deny the authenticity of the emails. The Department of State is well aware that malicious actors often target email accounts of government and business leaders across the United States. As a matter of policy, we do not discuss specific attempts or incidents, a State Department spokesman said.But the officials expertise in Russian politics and organized crime makes him a significant target. Hes probably the top intelligence guy in the entire U.S. government on Russia. He knows more than anybody about whats going on there, said one source whose correspondence with the official was revealed in the hack.
