{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0374","record_version":1,"title":"Acting CISA director uploaded sensitive government documents to public ChatGPT","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":58.9,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":15.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":6.0,"completeness":3.84,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"1 report: Ars Technica · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":2,"reports_independent":1,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":false,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"1 report: Ars Technica · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"03e90125446c0667ad7dce1b95d3971dd081ab65cf12d82681f58edd7a0d2129"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"OpenAI","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"unknown","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":null,"safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":"2025-08-01","date_occurred_precision":"month","date_disclosed":"2026-01-28","incident_class":"operational_error","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"human_misuse","duration":null,"detection_method":"automated_monitor","summary":"The system was the public version of ChatGPT, which the acting head of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Madhu Gottumukkala, used after receiving exclusive permission, although the tool is blocked for most other DHS staff. He uploaded documents marked for official use only. What went wrong was that the uploaded files, though not classified, contained details of government contracts not subject to disclosure, and data entered into the public version of ChatGPT is stated to become the property of OpenAI. Cybersecurity sensors caught the transfers, recording several automatic alerts in August 2025 about confidential information leaving the federal network. He became the subject of an internal investigation, and senior DHS officials are assessing the damage to national security. Calls for disciplinary action have been made, and he remains in office.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"moderate","severity_because":"Moderate: data of others (government contract details) was touched, and the scope is bounded to the details in the uploaded files, as stated in the quoted sentence.","harm_class":[],"affected_description":null,"protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://unn.ua/en/news/us-cyber-chief-uploaded-sensitive-data-to-public-chatgpt","publisher":"Українські Національні Новини (УНН)","date":"2026-01-28","type":"press","title":"US Cyber Chief Uploaded Sensitive Data to Public ChatGPT - Українські Національні Новини (УНН)","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"},{"url":"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01/us-cyber-defense-chief-accidentally-uploaded-secret-government-info-to-chatgpt/","publisher":"Ars Technica","date":"2026-01-28","type":"press","title":"US cyber defense chief accidentally uploaded secret government info to ChatGPT - Ars Technica","archived_url":null,"independence":"independent"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.developer":"C","event.date_occurred":"C","event.detection_method":"C","event.incident_class":"C","event.trigger":"C","context.industry":"C","impact.severity":"D","impact.severity_because":"D","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"D","context.country":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Acting CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala inadvertently leaked government materials by uploading them to OpenAI's public chatbot."}],"event.date_occurred":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In August 2025, cybersecurity sensors recorded several automatic alerts about the transfer of confidential information outside the federal network."}],"event.detection_method":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In August 2025, cybersecurity sensors recorded several automatic alerts about the transfer of confidential information outside the federal network."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Acting CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala inadvertently leaked government materials by uploading them to OpenAI's public chatbot."}],"event.trigger":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Acting CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala inadvertently leaked government materials by uploading them to OpenAI's public chatbot."}],"context.industry":[{"source_index":1,"quote":"Alarming critics, the acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Madhu Gottumukkala, accidentally uploaded sensitive information to a public version of ChatGPT last summer, Politico reported."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Although the files were not classified, they contained details of government contracts that are not subject to disclosure."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Although the files were not classified, they contained details of government contracts that are not subject to disclosure."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Madhu Gottumukkala, acting director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), has become the subject of an internal investigation after an unintentional leak of government materials."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The top official, responsible for protecting federal networks from hackers, uploaded documents marked \"for official use only\" to the public version of OpenAI's chatbot."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The incident occurred after Gottumukkala received exclusive permission to use ChatGPT, which is officially blocked for other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"In August 2025, cybersecurity sensors recorded several automatic alerts about the transfer of confidential information outside the federal network."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Although the files were not classified, they contained details of government contracts that are not subject to disclosure."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Any data entered into the public version of ChatGPT becomes the property of OpenAI and can be used to train the model or provide answers to other users."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Currently, high-ranking DHS officials, including chief lawyers and IT directors, are assessing the damage caused to national security."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Despite criticism and calls for disciplinary action, Gottumukkala remains in office, as the appointment of a permanent head of the agency is currently blocked in the Senate."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"No autonomous agent is described; the upload was done by a person, so agent_involved, failure_class and autonomy_level are left out. No model version, harness, tools, guardrails or lifecycle stage are stated. Disclosure date is not stated in the sources (publication dates are not used). The root cause is not stated, so root_cause is left out. The sources do not state the number of records, direct loss, or remediation actions; no remediation is reported. The agency's claim that use was short-term and limited is disputed by anonymous sources and is not recorded as fact. Severity is my judgement: moderate, because other parties' contract data was touched within a scope the sentence bounds to the uploaded files; the sources describe no confirmed harm. The F2 link is judged held because sensors raised alerts, though the upload was not stopped. The H2 link is judged failed because data left the federal network. The A6 link is judged got_around because the tool was blocked for other staff but permitted to him. Responsible party 'deployer' is my judgement. The sources do not state where the uploaded data went after upload. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Preliminary (1 report: Ars Technica · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":"government","org_size_band":null,"country":"unknown","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"doing","text":"The acting CISA director uploaded government materials to the public version of ChatGPT.","quote":"Acting CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala inadvertently leaked government materials by uploading them to OpenAI's public chatbot.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"caught","text":"Cybersecurity sensors recorded automatic alerts about the transfer of information outside the federal network.","quote":"In August 2025, cybersecurity sensors recorded several automatic alerts about the transfer of confidential information outside the federal network.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://unn.ua/en/news/us-cyber-chief-uploaded-sensitive-data-to-public-chatgpt","https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01/us-cyber-defense-chief-accidentally-uploaded-secret-government-info-to-chatgpt/"]},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"Gottumukkala received exclusive permission to use ChatGPT, which is blocked for other DHS employees.","quote":"The incident occurred after Gottumukkala received exclusive permission to use ChatGPT, which is officially blocked for other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"Cybersecurity sensors recorded several automatic alerts about the transfer of confidential information outside the federal network.","quote":"In August 2025, cybersecurity sensors recorded several automatic alerts about the transfer of confidential information outside the federal network.","source_index":0,"when":"2025-08"},{"text":"Gottumukkala became the subject of an internal investigation.","quote":"Madhu Gottumukkala, acting director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), has become the subject of an internal investigation after an unintentional leak of government materials.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"High-ranking DHS officials were assessing the damage.","quote":"Currently, high-ranking DHS officials, including chief lawyers and IT directors, are assessing the damage caused to national security.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"Gottumukkala remained in office despite criticism and calls for disciplinary action.","quote":"Despite criticism and calls for disciplinary action, Gottumukkala remains in office, as the appointment of a permanent head of the agency is currently blocked in the Senate.","source_index":0,"when":null}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://unn.ua/en/news/us-cyber-chief-uploaded-sensitive-data-to-public-chatgpt","https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01/us-cyber-defense-chief-accidentally-uploaded-secret-government-info-to-chatgpt/"]}}