March 29, 2024

Top Hungarian politicians have reportedly been targeted by US surveillance

younger Leak of confidential documents It was one of the biggest intelligence scandals in recent memory from the Pentagon. The documents revealed how the US spied on both its allies and enemies, including some Hungarian officials.

As we previously reported, a 10-member panel of the European Parliament’s Inquiry into the Use of Pegasus and Similar Spyware (PEGA) conducted a two-day visit to Hungary in February to gather information on alleged surveillance of journalists in the country. Although no evidence of the role of Hungarian authorities or intelligence services in the matter has yet been presented, there are indications to the contrary, meaning that Hungarian politicians may have been the target and not the perpetrators of such illegal practices.

Lately, there has been almost constant political back-and-forth between Hungary and the US, with US Ambassador David Pressman playing an active role in Budapest. But now U.S. intelligence agencies must explain after several news outlets reported that classified information had been leaked from the Pentagon.

Some of the leaked documents revealed the extent to which the US is monitoring South Korea, Israel and Ukraine. In the latter case, the weaknesses of the Ukrainian army and the details of a spring counteroffensive were revealed.

Published on Tuesday morning Economist Another detail in the document is that in addition to Ukrainian generals, US intelligence has also been monitoring Hungarian, Israeli and South Korean officials. According to the latest information, the US services are also monitoring officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Tracking techniques are also known, once phone debugging.

Analysts say it could be one of the most significant intelligence scandals of the past decade, with evidence that the leaked information came from classified documents. Interestingly, the leaks started in small internet groups on the news channel with such memes, jokes and racist language. Wall Street Journal reported.

The scandal began in January when an anonymous member of a dozen-member group began releasing files, many of which were classified as secret.

The files mainly involve intercepted messages from US allies such as Israel and South Korea, as well as US intelligence information about Russia’s military plans.

The documents, estimated to contain hundreds of files, were among members of a small group on the messaging site Discord until early March, when another user posted dozens of documents to another group with a larger audience. From there, at least ten files migrated to a much larger online community focused on the Minecraft computer game.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice are now scrambling to find answers to how dozens of images showing classified documents ended up on the Internet. A government investigation launched Friday at the request of the Defense Department is looking into the source of the leak.

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A senior Pentagon official told reporters on Monday that the leaked documents pose a very serious national security risk and could be used to spread disinformation. BBC reported. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Chris Meagher said steps were being taken to investigate who and how the information was leaked. He did not say whether the Pentagon believes the documents are authentic, but said some appear to have been altered.

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The government in Budapest has not yet commented on allegations that Hungarian officials may have been affected by illegal surveillance techniques.

Via: Hungary Today ; Cover image: Pixabay