News & Notes: Mullen latest of top U.S. officials to be hacked

The FBI is currently investigating an attempted hack by foreigners of the computer of Wilson School visiting professor and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Mullen is currently teaching WWS 318: U.S. Military and National and International Diplomacy and will teach an unnamed graduate seminar in the spring.

This is the latest in a slew of attacks on the computer files of former top U.S. officials by undisclosed hackers, according to the Journal.

Mullen is reportedly cooperating with the investigation into the cyber attacks, which targeted personal computers he used at the U.S. Naval Academy in 2011. University Spokesperson Martin Mbugua said that the FBI has not contacted the University, Mullen’s current employer.

Earlier this semester, Mullen stressed the importance of global interconnectedness in a lecture at the Wilson School. Toward the end of the lecture, Mullen discussed the growing threat cyberterrorism posed to U.S. security, citing Iranian attempts on U.S. banks.

“The day is long gone where we can just turn it over to our best technical expert and say, ‘Please fix that, and then let me know when my system’s back up,’ ” Mullen said at the lecture, discussing cyber attacks. “It is a capability that, I think, can actually bring us to our knees.”