After reportedly attacking law enforcement agencies from across the United States, hacker group AntiSec has claimed to have released more than 10 gigabytes of sensitive information to Pastebin.com.
The “hacktivists” posted the information, which included social security and credit card numbers, confidential email correspondence, and contact information of informants, in retaliation for the dozen arrests of alleged LulzSec and Anonymous members last month.
The information posted on Pastebin.com was stolen in cyber-attacks on more than 70 small-town law enforcement agencies, and AntiSec reports that they posted the data to “embarrass, discredit and incriminate police officers across the US.”
“We have no sympathy for any of the officers or informants who may be endangered by the release of their personal information. For too long they have been using and abusing our personal information, spying on us, arresting us, beating us, and thinking that they can get away with oppressing us in secrecy.”
The rural agencies appear to have been targeted because of their association with the law enforcement community, and security issues at Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing, who builds websites for law enforcement agencies across the southern United States, meant easy work for the hackers. AntiSec reports it took under 24 hours to access Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing’s servers and copy all the data.
“We hope that not only will dropping this info demonstrate the inherently corrupt nature of law enforcement using their own words, as well as result in possibly humiliation, firings, and possible charges against several officers, but that it will also disrupt and sabotage their ability to communicate and terrorize communities,” said AntiSec on Pastebin.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is handling the criminal investigation of Anonymous in the United States.
