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AntiSec hackers target Vanguard Defense exec

The hacktivist group says it has released 1GB of private business documents and e-mails from the defense contractor.

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Jon Skillings is an editorial director at CNET, where he's worked since 2000. A born browser of dictionaries, he honed his language skills as a US Army linguist (Polish and German) before diving into editing for tech publications -- including at PC Week and the IDG News Service -- back when the web was just getting under way, and even a little before. For CNET, he's written on topics from GPS, AI and 5G to James Bond, aircraft, astronauts, brass instruments and music streaming services.
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The hacktivist group AntiSec says it has released a gigabyte of private documents from Vanguard Defense Industries, including e-mails from an executive connected with a cybersecurity organization it has targeted previously.

In a post on Pastebin this morning, AntiSec said the e-mails belong to Richard Garcia, a senior vice president at Vanguard who is also a board member at InfraGard, an FBI program that teams up public and private cybersecurity efforts. In June, AntiSec affiliate LulzSec hacked the Web site of InfraGard Atlanta, releasing passwords and other sensitive information.

Describing InfraGard as "a sinister alliance," AntiSec gloated about this latest breach:

It is our pleasure to make a mockery of InfraGard for the third time, once again dumping their internal meeting notes, membership rosters, and other private business matters.

Within the booty you may find lots of shiny things as we did not have time to follow up on all the data. Safe to say, that despite previous disclosure in the media...Mr. Garcia did not bother to change any of his many many passwords found in his spool at the time of this release. So here's also a shoutout to all Lulz Lizards still following our mischiefs: Have fun with the data of Mr. Garcia, former Assistant Director to the L.A. FBI office who now sells his cybersecurity "skills" to the Military and Government for brazen amounts of money.

Vanguard, based in Conroe, Texas, makes an unmanned aerial vehicle called the ShadowHawk, used in commercial as well as law enforcement and military settings, and also provides security consulting services.

AntiSec said the new breach was perpetrated "not only to cause embarrassment and disruption to Vanguard Defense Industries, but to send a strong message to the hacker community" that it will continue to target military contractors, law enforcement agencies, and "white hat sellouts," a reference to hackers who work with police and other establishment groups.

Earlier this month, AntiSec issued a "Shooting Sheriffs Saturday Release" of what it said was 10GB of data stolen from U.S. law enforcement agencies, including private e-mails, passwords, data from informants, Social Security numbers, and credit card information.

Update 10:24 a.m.: In a phone conversation with CNET, Vanguard CEO Michael Buscher said the company had determined that there was no breach of its servers or Web site, but rather that it was Garcia's personal Gmail account that was accessed.

Nothing in the the material that was released by AntiSec involved sensitive data from Vanguard, or proprietary or customer information, Buscher said. The approximately 1GB of information, he said, centered primarily on Garcia's role at InfraGard.

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