If you’ve provided your information to popular military news sites, you may want to be extra cautious about any emails you receive asking for personal information. Gannett Government Media, the publisher of military news sites including Army Times, Defense News, Federal Times, and the Armed Forces Journal, notified readers this week of a breach that impacted user files. Information accessed included names, userID, password, email address, and for those who provided it, zip code, duty status, pay grade, and branch of service.
It’s yet another high profile breach but particularly important because of the unique user base it’s after. Service members and veterans make up the majority of account holders on the sites affected. Military and defense industry targets are highly sought after for cyber criminals, who use spear phishing campaigns to try to gain access to classified systems.
Gannett isn’t saying who is responsible for the attack or if they have any other details, but simply stated that they have hired an outside cybersecurity company to investigate and increase security measures.
Gannett is encouraging users to change their passwords on both Gannett news sites as well as other online accounts, specifically those connected to the same email address used on their sites.
