Typo causes U.K. to mistakenly send military emails to Russian ally instead of U.S.
The U.K. Defense Ministry’s Email Mishap: Mali Receives Military Correspondence
In an unfortunate turn of events, the U.K. Defense Ministry mistakenly sent a batch of emails intended for the Pentagon to the government of Mali. This typo occurred when British officials left out the “i” in the Pentagon’s domain name, resulting in the emails being sent to Mali instead.
This is not the first time such an error has occurred. Earlier this month, millions of emails, including sensitive information, were inadvertently sent to Mali due to the same typing mistake, as revealed by a Financial Times investigation.
The Defense Ministry spokesperson acknowledged the mistake and stated that an investigation has been initiated to address the issue. According to Reuters, a small number of emails were mistakenly forwarded to the incorrect email domain.
Fortunately, most of the emails sent to the Mali government contained harmless information, such as vacation schedules of Defense Ministry and Foreign Ministry employees. However, the Times reported that some emails did contain detailed information on British research into hypersonic missiles. The U.K. government denied this claim, asserting that fewer than 20 routine emails were sent to the incorrect domain and that there was no breach of operational security or disclosure of technical data.
The issue of similar domain names between the Pentagon and the Mali government has been a persistent problem for the past decade. Johannes Zuurbier, a Dutch internet entrepreneur who had control of Mali’s domain, highlighted this risk to the U.S. in early July. He warned that adversaries could exploit this situation, potentially compromising U.S. security.
It is worth noting that the Mali government has close ties to Moscow and has recently received promises of free grain from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Colonel Assimi Goïta, who governs the country, has relied on the Russian mercenary group Wagner to maintain control in the unstable Western African nation.
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To prevent future mishaps, it is crucial to raise awareness about the dangers of using the “ml” domain. As Zuurbier warned, any mistypes in the future could potentially expose sensitive material to adversaries of the U.S., as Mali could share such information with them.
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