A high-profile investigation is currently underway at the Pentagon to find out how the trove of highly sensitive documents detailing Ukraine war plans and intelligence on US allies got leaked.

To date, little is known about who may have been responsible or how some of the nation’s most tightly guarded secrets ended up on social media sites.

Javed Ali, Associate Professor of Practice at University of Michigan’s Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy weighs in with his take on the missing pieces of the puzzle.

Prof Ali brings more than 20 years of professional national security and intelligence experience, including in the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security before joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Highlights:

01:45 - What’s your assessment of the extent of the leak?

01:56 - But they are verified to be real, aren't they?

02:40 - Could you enlighten us - what level of safety is accorded to such documents normally and what layers have to be penetrated to get hold of such data?

03:50 - In your time in national intelligence agencies - have you seen leaks of a similar nature? Or are they considered rare?

04:50 - Very interestingly, we understand that the documents first appeared on online platforms such as Twitter, 4chan and Telegram, as well as on a Discord server for the video game Minecraft. Can you give us a sense of why a gaming channel is being used as the platform to circulate the leaked documents and how pervasive is this behaviour on such channels?

06:30 - Based on your experience - could the nature of the leaked documents and methods give some hints as to who the perpetrator might be and what are the signs investigators would be looking out for? Give us your best guess.

08:14 - Prof, one of the documents revealed a sensitive conversation between high-level South Korean officials - torn on whether to sell weapons that could be used in Ukraine. This highlights the complex and often secretive nature of international diplomacy and military operations. How can governments balance the need for transparency versus the need to protect national security interests?

10:00 - We’re seeing reports saying that Ukraine has been forced to amend some of its military plans as a result. How dire might the on-the-ground consequences be in this case, from a military security perspective?

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Presenter: Lynlee Foo 

Producer: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)