In case you missed it when I posted it to DataLossDB.org, individuals who self-identy as associated with AntiSec hacked – and then dumped – a lot of sensitive files from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.
The hackers announced the hack on April 28 with a video and a listing of some data and links to data dumps.
Although the data dump has been available from the git-go, the media seems to have just found it, judging by a news report yesterday from Local6 in Orlando, Florida:
Local 6 has learned the hackers who stole sensitive law enforcement data from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office have now released information that could compromise cases.
From an internet server in Russia, the hackers have only released a fraction of what they claim to have stolen. Local 6 has already uncovered roughly 16,000 law enforcement files online, including sensitive 911 calls, witness and victim statements, names of young crime victims, names and personal phone numbers of SWAT team members and a blueprint that could allow sex predators to avoid arrest. The hackers are also thought to have stolen sheriff employee passwords.
SWAT team information was also taken, including the unit’s operating guide. The hackers were able to learn confidential information such as size of Central Florida SWAT teams and how many snipers they each have.
As one of the news anchors asked, “Why Lake County Sheriff’s Office?” In their statement on the hack, the hackers write, in part:
More evidence that the illegitimate justice system protects their own, who get away with rampant corruption and theft, while the police apply unconstitutional profiling and pressure in their efforts to raise their arrest quotas and keep homeland security money rolling in.
Their coercive tactics are shown in Operations like Op Inmate Intelligence Gathering, which encourages snitching in return for favors from the police, and LCSO’s upcoming Operation Screen Savers, whereby citizens are entrapped in sex crime investigations, and arrested at pretextual traffic stops even if the don’t commit a crime. Even innocent defendants then undergo special conditions of pretrial release that prohibit all internet communications, so the cops can continue to entrap others, while judges set inflated bond by sealed administrative order.
I spent some time yesterday browsing the data dump to see what was in it, and yes, it contains a lot of PII on individual suspects and reports of discussions with confidential informants. It also contains requests for surveillance and information from Sprint about particular accounts. And of course, it contains contact details for SWAT team members, including home and cellphone numbers.