Hackers leak email addresses of US military

Hacking group Anonymous has released 90,000 email addresses it claims belong to members of the US military, stolen in a cyber attack on a government contractor.

The attack was perpetrated against Booz Allen Hamilton, a defence and domestic security contractor that works with the US administration. The hackers claim that they broke into the company's databases, which contained the email addresses and encrypted passwords.

Addresses stolen are thought to include those belonging to members of America's Central Command, responsible for Middle East military operations, the US Marine Corps, the Air Force, the country's internal Homeland Security and members of State Department staff.

The hackers said they deleted information from the company's servers and released more information that was related to "government agencies and federal contractors", which it thought would be of use to other hackers as part of what it called "Military Meltdown Monday".