CWA is not done yet, plans to release more sensitive files

Nov 7, 2015 22:51 GMT  ·  By

What started as a joke is now turning into a full-blown hacking agenda. The three teenagers that call themselves CWA (Crackas With Attitude) have just announced they've gained access to JABS, the nationwide computer system used to store information on arrests across the US.

The group, which has been active only for the past two weeks, has started first by hacking the CIA's boss personal AOL email, and then following suit by hacking FBI Deputy Director, Mark Giuliano, and his wife's email accounts.

Yesterday the group also released the personal details of around 2,400 US government employees, most of which were working in law enforcement.

We initially presumed that the data about those employees was coming from John Brennan's email account. We were wrong. According to an interview the group gave Wired, they acquired the data from a different hack, of a private Web portal used by FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

CWA hacked a "secret" FBI portal

The portal housed different tools that police, FBI and other agencies used to communicate with each other.

While the site listed quite a few utilities, CWA's leader, the hacker known as Cracka, confirmed to Wired that they (still) have access to JABS (Joint Automated Booking System), an application used to record and manage arrested US citizens.

Besides JABS, the "secret portal" also includes tools that allow law enforcement agencies to send and share files with each other, handle criminal complaints, collaborate and manage shared operations, and have real-time talks with each other via an IM, chat-like system.

The hackers provided a screenshot of JABS to confirm their statements.

For the upcoming days, CWA plans to slowly release the rest of the files they stole from this database, which amounts to about 34,000 entries. After this, the group said it would go dormant, at least for a while.

From the start, CWA made it very clear that they were doing this not to hurt US citizens but to draw attention to the US' backing of Israel in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The group has been very vocal about supporting Palestine's cause.