14 DAY TRIAL // In support for the Wall Street movement and as a form of retaliation against police brutality, the infamous hacktivits group attacked the websites of multiple law enforcement agencies and leaked tons of sensitive data of Pastebin.
Pastebin quickly moved to remove the posts, probably to clean itself of the “hacker's paradise” reputation they've earned recently, but one file still remains. The published information contains the mail credentials belonging to Boston Police Patrolmans' Association (BPPA) staff.
According to Wired, other agencies were hit, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Baldwin County Sheriff’s office in Alabama.
They not only leaked data, but also defaced websites to prove their deeds to the world. The BPPA's currently repaired site has a big red note in the events page that reads “Please Note: Starting Monday October 17th 2011 all Users who access the secure section of the site will have to re-register for a NEW Username and Password.”
This is a clear indication that indeed the hack is genuine.
In addition to BPPA, the IACP hack resulted in the leak of 1000 names, addresses, phone numbers and social security numbers belonging to members.
The IACP website is still down as a result of the hit which seems to have been planed exactly for the time of a meeting.
Recently the DHS expressed its concerns regarding the fact that Anonymous might target industrial control systems and even though they stated that their investigations revealed that the group doesn't yet possess the necessary knowledge to do so, it's clear that the hacktivists' cybercriminal powers are increasing.
I would imagine that it's not an easy task to break into the database of a law enforcement association, but then again, it wouldn't be the first time when someone in charge of large quantities of data implements weak security measures.