Report: WikiLeaks source exploited security flaw

Poor information security in an obscure State Department computer system made it possible for an inside source to turn over a massive cache of secret and sensitive diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

The Net-Centric Diplomacy initiative, which had become a storehouse of diplomatic cables, lacked the ability to detect that someone was downloading data without authorization, according to a report by the Washington Post.

“U.S. officials and security analysts describe the leak as a cautionary tale, one that underscores flaws in security for secret government data while also exposing a downside to the U.S. government's enthusiastic embrace of information-sharing in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,” writes Joby Warrick at the Post.