Hackers breached the United Nations’ computer networks in early 2021 and made off with a trove of data that could be used to target agencies within the intergovernmental organization. The hackers likely got in using the stolen username and password of a UN employee purchased off the dark web. The hackers, whoever breached the UN didn’t damage any of its systems but instead collected information about the UN’s computer networks.

THE UNITED NATIONS accidentally published passwords, internal documents, and technical details about websites. It happened when it misconfigured popular project management service Trello, issue tracking app Jira, and office suite Google Docs. This made sensitive material available online to anyone with the proper link, rather than only to specific users who should have access. Affected data included credentials for a U.N. file server, the video conferencing system at the U.N.’s language school, and a web development environment for the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The sensitive information were available by running searches on Google. The searches, in turn, produced public Trello pages, some of which contained links to the public Google Docs and Jira pages.