US defense secretary repeatedly used same password for personal accounts: Report

Leaked data reveals US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reused identical passwords across multiple personal email accounts, according to a New York Times report published Wednesday.

The newspaper indicated that top US security officials, including Hegseth, former National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard all reused passwords for personal accounts and online services.

The report shows Hegseth employed a simple alphanumeric password, potentially containing initials and a date, for personal email accounts.

The identical credential appeared in separate 2017 and 2018 data breaches, raising questions about whether the Pentagon chief updated his security practices before discussing sensitive military operations about Yemen's Houthi militants on a personal device.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

Similar issues were reported with Waltz and Gabbard.

Waltz's passwords were also exposed in data breaches, though a source said he changed them before joining Congress in 2019.

Gabbard changed her credentials multiple times after a breach nearly a decade ago, according to her spokeswoman, but recent breaches linked similar reused passwords to her personal email, the report added.

The revelations come amid concerns that a group of US national security leaders used the Signal messaging app to talk in a group chat about imminent military operations against the Houthis, and that there are questions about how senior officials in the US are handling classified information.