A cyberattack targeting the US Department of War’s personnel database has resulted in the leak of personal information belonging to approximately 3 million people.

Speaking to ABC News, a Pentagon official stated that the system accessed by unauthorised individuals contained the records of 2,760,000 living persons and 294,000 deceased individuals.

The Military Times portal, which first broke the news, had reported the number of affected individuals as approximately 4 million based on two sources. The Pentagon official subsequently conveyed different figures to ABC News.

The leak encompasses Social Security numbers and duty information belonging to military personnel and civilian employees. According to an official notification examined by Military Times, the compromised records may also include names, dates of birth, contact information, sex, race, and military occupational specialties.

The unauthorised access to the information system of the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) lasted for approximately nine months, between October 2025 and 16 July 2026.

ABC News reported that the access in question was obtained by a small number of third-party users. The vulnerability was closed after it was identified.

The DMDC is considered one of the Pentagon’s primary personnel records centres. More than 60 million records belonging to active-duty personnel, reservists, civilian staff, contractors, retirees, veterans, and military family members are stored at the centre.

The Pentagon has not detected any evidence that the leaked data has been misused. Military Times reported that affected individuals were offered identity restoration and credit history monitoring services.

A similar data breach previously occurred on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) recruitment website, FBIJobs.gov. According to information obtained by ABC News from internal communications and sources, the FBI is considering the possibility that data belonging to its entire staff may have been stolen.

The New York Times (NYT) examined a portion of the stolen FBI records. Home addresses, telephone numbers, official email addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, hiring dates, and emergency contact details for relatives were identified within these documents.

The database also contained unit designations, duty roles, and information regarding the supervisors of personnel. Some records revealed assignments within counterintelligence and counternarcotics units, as well as departments examining threats originating from Russia, China, and Iran.

Ciaran Martin, the former head of the UK National Cyber Security Centre, noted that this type of breach could directly affect the FBI’s operational capabilities.

The hacker group known as ShinyHunters had announced that it had seized medical data and security clearance records alongside files belonging to tens of thousands of active and former FBI employees.

Experts evaluating the matter for the NYT warned that this information could be used to track agents, threaten their families, or compile dossiers by foreign intelligence services.

The ShinyHunters group initially threatened to release the data unless the bureau withdrew an advisory it had published concerning the group’s attack methods.

The group later asserted that it had never intended to leak the information and characterised its action as an advertising campaign.

In a report published in May, Reuters noted that the personal data of US military personnel had been used in surveillance and attack preparations.

According to the agency, Washington’s adversaries gained the ability to pinpoint areas where troops were concentrated by exploiting commercially available location data. US lawmakers at the time criticised the Pentagon for failing to adequately protect the personal data of military personnel.

US President Donald Trump’s trade policy and the Washington administration’s push to increase Venezuelan oil imports are prompting Canada to diversify its energy exports.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, recent developments are accelerating Canada’s development of new oil and natural gas projects.

Steps taken by the Ottawa administration, which aspires to become an energy superpower, are seen as potentially strengthening the country’s position in global markets.

In Canada, the world’s fourth-largest oil producer and fifth-largest natural gas producer, the energy sector accounts for approximately one-fifth of total exports.

Almost all of the country’s natural gas exports and approximately 90% of its oil exports go to the US.

The newspaper writes that the trade war with Washington and the atmosphere of confrontation entered into with Iran have heightened Canada’s desire to turn to alternative markets outside the US.

Officials plan to increase shipments of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to European and Asian markets.

Accelerating infrastructure investments in line with this target, Canada is also shortening approval processes. The government is prioritising the construction of an oil pipeline extending specifically to the west coast.

According to the newspaper’s estimate, if major pipeline projects are implemented, Canada’s daily oil transport capacity could rise to 6.8 million barrels by 2034.

Routes heading to the west coast will make up approximately 30% of this capacity.

The Canadian administration is simultaneously advancing LNG export projects. According to the report, these investments could allow approximately 55% of Canadian natural gas exports to be directed to markets outside the US by the early or mid-2030s.

While the government expands tax incentives for the oil and natural gas sector, the province of Alberta also plans to overhaul its royalty system.

However, the newspaper notes that implementing the new projects requires heavy investment, and the process depends on the final decisions taken by producers as well as the completion of regulatory approval processes.

The expansion of pipeline and LNG infrastructure could gradually reduce Canada’s dependence on the US market while raising its share in the global energy market.

The Canadian Prime Minister’s demand to reduce reliance on the US market had also come to the fore in July.

According to Carney’s statement, the province of Alberta submitted a plan for a pipeline spanning more than 1,000 kilometres to the west coast of British Columbia.

Targeted for completion by September 2027, the line will reach the Pacific coast by following an existing corridor through the mountainous terrain.

This shift in energy comes at a time of strained relations with the US. Donald Trump said that if Canada obtains associate member status in the European Union, he could halt trade with Europe in certain sectors and impose high tariffs.

As reported by the Associated Press, Trump characterised such a rapprochement as a “potentially hostile act”.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had proposed opening the path for Canada to become the EU’s first associate member. The terms of this associate membership status, which is not defined in EU treaties, are not yet clear and require the approval of member states to enter into force.

Canada, which does not seek full membership, aims for maximum rapprochement with the EU.

Following Trump’s return to the White House, relations between Washington and Ottawa deteriorated. The Trump administration, which repeatedly called on Canada to become the “51st state” of the US, introduced additional tariffs.

In July, the US began imposing 50% tariffs on certain Canadian-origin goods.

The US economy is projected to grow much faster than all other major advanced economies this year, as its domestic policies trigger difficulties across much of the globe.

According to Axios, the global economy has proved surprisingly resilient in the face of successive shocks.

The US stands out within this broader picture. A boom in artificial intelligence investment is helping the country expand far more rapidly than peer economies.

Yet this exceptional performance carries a price: more persistent inflation and interest rates that may need to stay at elevated levels for longer to rein it in.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projects that the US economy will expand by 2.2% this year.

That rate is roughly double the pace forecast for the eurozone, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Growth is expected to be even weaker in Japan (0.8%) and Canada (0.9%).

This growth gap is expected to persist next year. In 2027, US growth is projected to reach 2.1%, while growth across most other major advanced economies in the rest of the world is forecast to hover around 1%.

The OECD has grown more optimistic regarding the US since June, raising its growth forecast by 0.2 percentage points for 2026 and by 0.3 percentage points for 2027.

This trend contrasts with downward revisions to next year’s growth projections for the global economy overall, the eurozone, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

OECD Chief Economist Stefano Scarpetta told reporters this morning:

“The biggest risk remains the course of the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on the energy market. But there are a number of other risks, some of which appear to have become somewhat more pronounced compared to the June forecasts.”

Scarpetta highlighted rising government bond yields, the risks accompanying the AI investment boom, and the likelihood of extreme weather pushing up food prices.

According to the OECD, the boom in artificial intelligence (AI) has provided the US economy with a powerful shock absorber absent in most other economies.

Rapid growth in AI investment and manufacturing “partially offset” the economic blow dealt by the conflict in the Middle East.

Data centre and technology spending directly bolstered US growth.

The inflation outlook, meanwhile, is proving more stubborn than it appeared several months ago.

The OECD expects headline inflation in the US to fall from 3.6% this year to 2.6% next year.

However, this forecast for 2027 is half a percentage point higher than the figure projected in June.

Core inflation in the US is projected to stand at 3.3% this year, among the highest rates across leading advanced economies, before easing to 2.5% next year.

This stubborn path explains why the OECD expects the Federal Reserve to deliver one more interest-rate increase this year and anticipates rates will remain in the 4% to 4.25% range through the end of 2027.

On the other hand, the AI boom accelerating US growth is beginning to bring its own macroeconomic headwinds.

According to the OECD, long-term borrowing costs in most of these major economies are at their highest levels in at least 15 years.

The organisation argues that heavy borrowing by AI firms has contributed to pushing yields higher, which could elevate costs across the broader economy and leave markets vulnerable if AI profits fail to meet expectations.

America has contributed to making the global economic climate more challenging.

Even though its own economy has so far performed better than nearly all other countries, this resilience comes accompanied by an inflation problem that remains difficult to eliminate.