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Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700k Cops

theintercept.com

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Re: Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700k Cops

#31

Post by coffeemaniac »

mindslight wrote: post #28
av_engr wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Including address and phone number? Doesn't that also enable public workers to be target of harassment?

Real Name -> Address is already public information, due to the combination of real estate deeds, campaign finance reports, etc. Real Name -> Phone number is nearly public information, being easily looked up in commercial surveillance databases. I've gotten phone calls from businesses on a associated numbers that I don't even consider mine due to this. Framing a list of public servants as "doxing" is just a thinly-vei…

Public servants and particularly cops often go to lots of effort to avoid being included in these databases you mention. Some of the methods they use are actually disallowed for regular citizens.

They're angry their exceptions are no longer valued, and they'll continue to do things like cover up names and badge numbers to avoid any accountability for their actions.

Re: Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700k Cops

#32

Post by boomboomsubban »

LargesseBargess wrote: post #17
boomboomsubban wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree, though it's worth noting that the CIA seems to engage in the same practice. https://news.yahoo.com/secret-trump-order-gives-cia-more-pow...

I'm not sure the CIA counts if this was used as a whataboutism argument by someone. Cyberwarfare is in legit contention as a space for state actors to work against each other. The police hack seemed like a hacktivist thinking doxxing cops was the way to support BLM when it could very easily ruin people's lives without a fair audit/trial.

By this logic, if the BlueLeaks hacks have something to do with Russia you would find them acceptable.

Re: Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700k Cops

#33

Post by tingletech »

akaktsn wrote: post #22
throwaway29102 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you work for the State of Iowa, your name, department, title, and salary are printed in the newspaper at least once a year.

Dang that is wild. Didn't know that.

same for UC employees, but we set up a web site so the FOIA/CPRA requests don't have to be made https://ucannualwage.ucop.edu/wage/

It has our UC police in it too.

Re: Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700k Cops

#34

Post by RangerScience »

sebazzz wrote: post #2

This isn't right. Group behavior should not affect individuals in this way.

"Should" is a funny word. Seems to be used mostly when one's ideas about how reality "should" work come up against how reality "does" work; from orbital procession to the photoelectric effect.

"Should" is an opportunity many don't take to go "huh, that's funny" and learn something about reality.

"Group behavior should not affect individuals in this way" according to what principles and theories? It does - so, which of those principles and theories are wrong or incomplete? What other forces are at work? Are any of these factors the sort that can be effected by human civilization design, or do they arise from things we can't meaningfully effect? If they're designed, what're the Chesterton's Fences around them?

Re: Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700k Cops

#35

Post by driverdan »

GaryNumanVevo wrote: post #30
upofadown wrote: post #11

>For example, the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center has 29,114 accounts, and each one includes a full name; rank; police department or agency; email address; home address, ... So that means that anyone with access to the system can get the home addresses of all their co-workers that also have accounts on the system? Why would all this personal information be associated with an account of this type? Thi…

Honestly that's the most interesting part (at least until people sift through the data more) of this story. Why the heck are they storing sensitive data on what appears to be a CMS for e-commerce site?

Home addresses aren't considered sensitive information. If you own your home that information is public. Cops read people's addresses (and SSNs) out over the radio all the time for anyone to hear.

I'm not saying I agree with this, privacy should be protected better, but that's the US.

Re: Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700k Cops

#36

Post by Answerawake »

vsareto wrote: post #7
canada_dry wrote: post #6

> the sites were running VBScript, using Microsoft Access databases. Why doesn't this surprise me?

Someone had a talk at the DEFCON blue team village about police software and how trivial it was to find something. I think it was like database creds in a DLL and apostrophes in fields causing errors (likely SQLi). I can't remember if it was something they ran in the patrol vehicles or at precincts.

Linecon was terrible in this last convention(my first). Missed out on so many things I wanted to see because Linecon just got out of hand. I guess it is to be expected. :/

CCC being a conference of just ~10k allowed event goers to experience much more.

Re: Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700k Cops

#37

Post by tehjoker »

sebazzz wrote: post #2

This isn't right. Group behavior should not affect individuals in this way.

I wonder if LEOs say that about gangs.

If you think this is controversial today, the southern police evolved from slave catchers. If you think that cultural history is irrelevant today, I have a confederate flag to sell you. (Not really, I don't actually collect flags from white slavocracies.)

https://lawenforcementmuseum.org/2019/07/10/slave-patrols-an...

Re: Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700k Cops

#38

Post by mschuster91 »

driverdan wrote: post #35
GaryNumanVevo wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly that's the most interesting part (at least until people sift through the data more) of this story. Why the heck are they storing sensitive data on what appears to be a CMS for e-commerce site?

Home addresses aren't considered sensitive information. If you own your home that information is public. Cops read people's addresses (and SSNs) out over the radio all the time for anyone to hear. I'm not saying I agree with this, privacy should be protected better, but that's the US.

> Home addresses aren't considered sensitive information.

I wonder what will happen once the first protesters line up at cop houses or pranksters bombard them with spam and fake pizza orders. Not that I'd condone wasting pizza, but in many cases change only happens when the people in power have problems.

Re: Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700k Cops

#39

Post by iRobbery »

RangerScience wrote: post #34
sebazzz wrote: post #2

This isn't right. Group behavior should not affect individuals in this way.

"Should" is a funny word. Seems to be used mostly when one's ideas about how reality "should" work come up against how reality "does" work; from orbital procession to the photoelectric effect. "Should" is an opportunity many don't take to go "huh, that's funny" and learn something about reality. "Group behavior should not affect individuals in this way" according to what principles and theories? It does - so, which o…

I start every git commit with "Should ..." :-)

Re: Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700k Cops

#40

Post by thephyber »

pnutjam wrote: post #21

TFA says this could compromise user's password. I worked for a City and handled the police dept. You could go far by just using username as password... Nobody wanted to hear about security.

> Nobody wanted to hear about security.

System/network security. I guarantee physical security would get someone's attention at a police department. The police in my family are paranoid and have even broken lesser laws to increase their own physical security.

I suspect this mismatch is because police (like average consumers) don't know the impact of a network security breach. It's a failure of imagination. Hopefully BlueLeaks helps to change this.

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