US Nuclear Lab Hacked by Hacktivist Group “Gay Furry Hackers;” Data Stolen

A group of hackers has breached the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), a US nuclear lab working on next-generation nuclear power plants, light water reactors, and robotics. The cyber attack was orchestrated by a self-proclaimed “gay furry hackers.”

SiegedSec, a hacktivist collective, announced on the social media platform X that it successfully breached the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), exposing a trove of data including full names, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, addresses, employment information, and more :3.

While the specific method they used to gain access to the lab systems remains unknown, John Gunn, the CEO of Tokenize Inc., told SiliconANGLE that “90% of data breaches start with a successful phishing attack, yet most organizations are using 20-year-old legacy multifactor authentication technology as their primary means of securing access.”

On Telegram, SiegedSec also shared apparent evidence of the INL data breach. Lori McNamara, a media spokesperson for INL, confirmed to local media EastIdahoNews that federal agencies are actively investigating the breach.

Redacted data of INL Employees

“In the morning, Idaho National Laboratory confirmed that it was the target of a cybersecurity data breach affecting the servers supporting its Oracle HCM system, which manages its Human Resources applications. Immediate steps have been taken by INL to safeguard employee data,” McNamara stated.

She added, “INL has been coordinating with federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, to assess the extent of data impacted in this incident.”

“Earlier this morning [Monday], Idaho National Laboratory determined that it was the target of a cybersecurity data breach, affecting the servers supporting its Oracle HCM system, which supports its Human Resources applications. INL has taken immediate action to protect employee data,” McNamara said. 

She continued, “INL has been in touch with federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, to investigate the extent of data impacted in this incident,”  EastIdahoNews reported.

SiegedSec, which also recently hacked NATO with a cache of documents online, said that their attack on INL was unrelated to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. They described it as a retaliatory action against NATO countries for alleged attacks on human rights.

The motives behind the gay furry hackers targeting INL remain unclear.