A Tennessee-based engineer stole $90,000 worth of government radio technology, creating a “critical compromise” of communications systems impacting 17 Air Force facilities, according to a search warrant.
The breach could also impact FBI communications, according to the warrant which was obtained by Forbes.
The government was tipped off by a contractor working with the Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma, Tenn., and recently raided the engineer’s home.
The engineer, 48, who has not been charged with a crime, was not identified by Forbes.
He allegedly had “unauthorized administrator access” to radio communications technology used by the Air Education and Training Command, or ATEC, “affecting 17 Department of Defense installations,” according to the magazine’s report Saturday.
The potential AETC compromise, which is one of nine “major commands,” defined by the Pentagon as “interrelated and complementary” and provides support to Air Force headquarters, comes just three months after another breach of Pentagon security.
Air National Guard employee Jack Teixeira allegedly leaked sensitive information related to the war in Ukraine on the social platform Discord.
Teixeira pleaded not guilty last month.
During the raid on the Air Force engineer’s home, authorities found an open computer screen showing the suspect was running radio programming software “which contained the entire Arnold Air Force Base communications system,” Forbes reported.
Authorities also said they found evidence that the engineer had access to FBI and Tennessee state agencies, although they did not elaborate on what information may have been compromised.
Neither the Pentagon nor the FBI has commented publicly on the search warrant.
