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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard used the same password across separate online accounts for years, according to a new report.
Before becoming the head of the intelligence community, Gabbard used the same password for multiple email addresses and online accounts while she served in Congress, including while working on the House Committees for Armed Services and Homeland Security, Wired reported. The revelation suggests Gabbard, who now oversees 18 intelligence organizations, was not adhering to simple online security best practices for years.
The report comes months after it was disclosed that she was one of the Trump officials involved in the so-called Signalgate group chat in which U.S. military strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen were discussed. Signal is not approved by the Pentagon for discussion of sensitive information.
The Independent has reached out to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for comment.
Gabbard served as a Democratic congresswoman of Hawaii from 2013 through 2021. She appeared to have used the same password from 2012 through 2018 for her Gmail, MyFitnessPal, LinkedIn and other personal accounts, tranches of breached records published within the period show, Wired reported. This password does not appear to have been used with her government accounts.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency recommends using long, random and unique passwords on all personal and business accounts, stressing that each password should be “used for one and only one account.”
The password includes the word “shraddha” – a term that has come up in previous reporting related to Gabbard’s alleged involvement with a cult: the Science of Identity Foundation, an off-shoot of the Hare Krishna movement in which Gabbard was raised, the Wall Street Journal reported in January.
Former Science of Identity followers told the Journal they believed that Gabbard had been initiated and given the name “Shraddha Dasi.”
After the Journal reported Gabbard’s link to the group, her team accused the newspaper of spreading “Hinduphobic smears and other lies.” But this week, Gabbard spokesperson Oliva Coleman denied the association with the Science of Identity and noted that any data breaches occurred ages ago.
“The data breaches you’re referring to occurred almost 10 years ago, and the passwords have changed multiple times since,” Coleman told Wired.
“As our deputy chief of staff has already made clear on a number of occasions, the DNI has never and doesn’t have affiliation with that organization. Attempting to smear the DNI as being in a cult is bigoted behavior,” she added.
Gabbard’s chief of staff also doubled down on the denial of her association with the group, telling the outlet: “Your bigoted lies and smears of a cabinet member and your story fomenting hinduphobia is noted.”
When grilled by Congress about her participation in the Signal group chat, she refused to say whether she used the app on her personal phone.
“I won’t speak to this because it’s under review by the National Security Council,” Gabbard said. She insisted that no classified material was shared in the chat.
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