Hackers hit International Atomic Energy Agency server

IDG News Service - A group of hackers leaked email contact information of experts working with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after breaking into one of the agency's servers.

The group published a list of 167 email addresses along with its manifesto on Sunday in a post on Pastebin.

"Some contact details related to experts working with the IAEA were posted on a hacker site on 25 November 2012," IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said Wednesday in an emailed statement. "The IAEA deeply regrets this publication of information stolen from an old server that was shut down some time ago. In fact, measures had already been taken to address concern over possible vulnerability in this server."

The hacker group calls itself Parastoo and wants the IAEA to investigate Israel's nuclear activities at the Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona, an Israeli city located in the Negev desert. "Israel owns a practical nuclear arsenal tied to a growing military body and it is not a member of internationally respected nuclear, biochemical and chemical agreements," the group said.

Israel has long had a policy of nondisclosure regarding its nuclear military capabilities and has never signed the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

The experts whose email addresses were leaked should sign a petition demanding that IAEA investigate the activities at Dimona, the hacker group said, claiming that it has evidence of "beyond-harmful operations" taking place at the site.

Parastoo threatened to published information on the whereabouts of every single individual on the list together with their personal and professional details, saying that all of them could be considered responsible if an accident was to happen at Dimona.

"The IAEA's technical and security teams are continuing to analyse the situation and do everything possible to help ensure that no further information is vulnerable," Tudor said. "The Agency treats information security, including cybersecurity, as a top priority and takes all possible steps to ensure its computer systems and data are fully protected."

The IAEA is an international organization that promotes the safe and peaceful use of nuclear energy and discourages the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The agency reports issues of non-compliance by states to the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council.