Cyber Incident Victim: James Clapper
Date:
Jan 2016
Location:
United States of America
Summary
A group of hackers known as "Crackas With Attitude" compromised the personal accounts of the Director of National Intelligence, including his home telephone, internet service, personal email, and his wife's Yahoo email. The attackers redirected calls to his residence to the Free Palestine Movement and accessed call logs, with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirming the breach and involving authorities. The hackers claimed their actions were motivated by opposition to government policies in support of Palestine, while an information security expert suggested social engineering likely facilitated the intrusion and criticized inadequate protection of the victim's publicly accessible personal information.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 2 techniques |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
In October 2015, a group identifying as "Crackas With Attitude" (CWA) gained attention by hacking into CIA Director John Brennan’s AOL email account, accessing law enforcement tools and prompting an FBI alert regarding their activities. By January 2016, one member known as "Cracka" targeted James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, breaching multiple personal accounts including Clapper’s home telephone and internet service (Verizon FiOS), his personal email, and his wife’s Yahoo email. The hackers manipulated Clapper’s Verizon account settings to forward all incoming calls to his home number to the Free Palestine Movement’s contact line. Cracka provided a journalist with Clapper’s home number and call logs as evidence; calls placed to the number reached Paul Larudee, co-founder of the Free Palestine Movement, who confirmed receiving misdirected calls intended for Clapper. The call logs also included an entry for Vonna Heaton, who verified her identity but declined to discuss the incident.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) confirmed the breach through spokesperson Brian Hale, stating they had reported the incident to authorities, though the FBI declined to comment. Cracka publicly taunted officials via a new Twitter account and emphasized the hack was a political statement opposing U.S. government policies, using the hashtag #FreePalestine. Security expert Michael Adams assessed the intrusion likely involved social engineering tactics and criticized Clapper’s publicly accessible personal information, noting basic details like his home address and phone number were easily discoverable online. The hacker group’s actions highlighted continued vulnerabilities in high-profile officials’ personal accounts despite prior warnings, with no disclosed remediation steps or technical details about how the breaches were detected or contained beyond ODNI’s referral to law enforcement. Cracka requested anonymity in media coverage, reiterating the attacks were intended to demonstrate dissent against government actions.