The Police Maine State is among the police departments whose data was recently exposed online . The agency said Friday night that a database of federal, state and local law enforcement officials had been breached .
State police said that on June 20, web hosting provider Netsential notified them of a data breach that may have also affected the Maine Intelligence and Analysis Center (MIAC).
The Maine State Police has contracted with the company, which provides web hosting services to hundreds of police departments and government agencies across the country, since 2017.
Police said they have notified all agencies involved in the MIAC and are working with the FBI to assess the extent of the data.
“Earlier today we received a notification that some data, submitted to MIAC by other organizations and held by Netsential, has been compromised and made public through various illegal means,” police said in a written statement. “Our initial analysis revealed that some of these files contain information that is shared between law enforcement and government agencies. We will provide additional, more specific information to those agencies affected when we learn the content of these breaches.”
MIAC is essentially a “ fusion center ,” which helps law enforcement agencies work together to prevent terrorism and other major crimes. Most were established after the September 11, 2001 attacks
The Maine State Police said that the exposed database mainly contained information regarding crimes and bulletins.
“These reports often contain identifying information , such as the full name and date of birth, of individuals being investigated by other law enforcement agencies ,” the agency said in its statement. “They may also involve individuals wanted for criminal activity or individuals reported missing .”
