The Pentagon is the biggest office building in the world, and just as it holds tens of thousands of personnel dedicated to protecting the US, it also houses documents that are not meant to be seen by the public, Some files, however, is still accessed by unauthorized individuals, and a few are found on Discord.
Classified Pentagon Files on Discord
Analysts have traced the source of the leak from Discord, which showed several classified documents that were used to aid in a debate about the war in Ukraine. What makes it unusual is that Discord is not the first platform that comes to mind when it comes to leaked documents.
The messaging platform is usually used by gamers, although some would occasionally create groups to discuss certain topics. Around 50 documents that were marked Secret and Top Secret were found so far, according to Gizmodo.
While the Pentagon is still trying to determine whether the photographed documents were real, a spokesperson from the headquarters stated that they appear to contain sensitive and highly classified material.
The Discord channel is called "Thug Shaker Central," and has more than a dozen users. Reports estimate that there may be hundreds more documents in the channel, although the cache remains within the group of users.
Dozens more were published in a group with more members which is run by WowMao, a Filipino content creator on YouTube, to which ten of the documents were published to another Discord channel called "Minecraft Earth Map," with more members.
A Discord spokesperson said that it's the platform's highest priority to make sure that its users have a safe experience. It was also mentioned that Discord is already cooperating with law enforcement to look into the breach of the classified documents.
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How Officials Are Responding
The US government continues to investigate the source of the leak and how it's spreading on social media platforms. Mostly, the Pentagon is assessing how the leak will impact national security, along with the Justice Department launching a criminal investigation.
Milancy Harris, the deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence and security, will be overlooking the investigation to determine the scope of the leak, according to CNN, although officials still don't know whether it has been contained or if there are more documents leaked.
Senior defense officials have been speculating about the person behind the leak, which could possibly be the child of a Pentagon official who wanted to show off on Discord, although it still does not explain why the documents were taken out of headquarters.
Reports say that the photographed documents appeared to be crumpled or wrinkled, which could mean that it was folded or pocketed before being taken out of the Pentagon. This signifies that the person may not have had the authority to take the documents with them.
Pentagon officials have been investigating the devices that may have been used to print the document. Investigators will look into printer logs in the last few months which could narrow down the number of suspects in the leak.
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