Yesterday, Monday, NBC Los Angeles reported that a hacker claims to have in his possession approximately 2,500 databelonging to "officers, trainees and recruits" of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) as well as data of 17,500 other LAPD employees.
According to NBC Los Angeles, a person claiming to be a hacker contacted the Service last week. The hacker informed the agency that he had data and provided examples to prove his claims. The police themselves received an email that read: "Some of information contained in the Department of Personnel Candidate Program may have been compromised."
The compromised data includes names, dates of birth, parts of social security numbers, email addresses and passwords that officers created when applying for jobs. Other data may have also been compromised.
The LAPD advised officers to monitor their personal accounts (especially if they contain financial information), obtain copies of their credit reports, and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
On the plus side, there is no evidence that residential addresses, phone numbers, and full social security numbers have been leaked.
The intelligence agency did not provide much information but said the hacker reported receiving the data “from outside sources.” According to The Times, the serverthat was affected did not belong to the LAPD, but to the city’s personnel department.
An LAPD spokesperson told NBC Los Angeles that “and we Data security is of paramount importance to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) are committed to protecting the privacy of those associated with our department.”
Officers believe the breach occurred on July 25 and affected people who applied to join the force between 2010 and 2018 or 2019. A spokesman for the Bureau of Intelligence said the affected database had recently been replaced with an upgraded database with better security. However, the old database still existed and contained the data. The agency also said this is the first successful cyberattack in Los Angeles in recent years.
