Israel Cracked ISIS Computers — But Trump Leaked It To Russians
The source of the classified intelligence that U.S. President Trump shared with Russian officials in May was information Israel obtained after hacking computers belonging to ISIS, the New York Times reported Monday.
According to the Times, which cited a U.S. official, Israeli “cyberoperators” managed to penetrate an ISIS cell of bombmakers based in Syria a number of months ago.
According to the report, the information was so good that it allowed the United States to learn that the terror cell was working on explosives that could fool airport security by passing as a laptop battery.
According to the report, the information helped support a ban since March on carrying electronics such as laptops on incoming flights from number of predominantly Muslim countries to the United States and Britain.
The intelligence was shared at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. The unnamed officials said Israel had previously urged the U.S. to be cautious with the said information.
The revelation that Trump shared sensitive intelligence with Russia raises the possibility that the information could lead to it leaked onward to Iran.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO