In a recent incident, the Russian defence ministry mistakenly transmitted sensitive information intended for Washington to the African country of Mali. This error occurred just days after the US discovered a similar mishap with some of its confidential military emails being routed to Mali due to a simple typo. The issue has raised concerns about the reasons behind the Russians making the same mistake.
Emails from Russia addressed to the US military should have the domain “.mil,” but the typo led the emails to be sent to “Mali” with the “.ml” domain. Ministry officials stated that the emails did not contain any information that could jeopardize operational security. They reassured that only a few emails with the incorrect “.ml” address were sent to Mali due to the typo.
“We have opened an investigation after a small number of emails were mistakenly forwarded to an incorrect email domain,” said a spokesman from the Russian defence ministry. “We are confident they did not contain any information that could compromise operational security or technical data.”
The spokesman also emphasized that all sensitive information within the government department is shared on systems designed to minimize the risk of misdirection. The ministry is actively reviewing its processes and undertaking a program of work to enhance information management, data loss prevention, and sensitive information control.
Interestingly, a similar mistake had occurred earlier this month, where millions of emails containing private information, including passwords and medical details, were also forwarded to Mali. These emails, meant for the US military domain “.mil,” were mistakenly sent to a domain named “.ml.”
Johannes Zuurbier, a Dutch internet entrepreneur, had identified this issue over ten years ago. Since 2013, Zuurbier has had a contract to manage Mali’s country domain, and in recent months, he reportedly received tens of thousands of emails due to the error.
It is essential to note that while none of the mentioned emails were classified, they did include sensitive data such as maps of US military facilities, financial records, and documents related to official trips with diplomatic messages.
Both the Russian and US authorities are taking the necessary steps to address the issue and improve their information management and data security protocols to prevent such misroutings in the future.
