A simple typo has caused millions of U.S. military emails containing extremely sensitive information to be misdirected to Mali—a close ally of Russia. The emails are being sent to Mali’s .ML domain thanks to people incorrectly typing the suffix of all American military email addresses, .MIL. Johannes Zuurbier, a Dutch internet entrepreneur contracted to manage Mali’s country domain, told the Financial Times he noticed the issue nearly a decade ago and has made repeated attempts to warn U.S. authorities about it. None of the missent emails have been marked classified, but many contain highly sensitive information about American military personnel and installations, including base staff lists, medical data, and identity documents. One email contained a travel itinerary for Gen. James McConville, the chief of staff of the Army, and his delegation on a trip to Indonesia which included room numbers and details of the collection of his hotel room key. Zuurbier is raising the alarm yet again because Monday is the day his contract expires and the .ML domain reverts to Mali’s government, which is a close ally of Russia and major employer of the Wagner mercenary group. All of the missdirected U.S. military emails can now be collected by the government.
