Hackers Target Police Websites

Anonymous and associated hacking groups have been attacking police departments and associations over the past week, disrupting access to websites and leaking personally identifiable information of police officers.

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The Boston Police Department on Feb. 6 issued a statement on its Facebook page apologizing for the department's website being down. An Anonymous spokesman told the Boston Herald newspaper that the group attacked the website as revenge for police evicting Occupy Wall Street protesters from Dewey Square.

Another hacktivist group, CabinCr3w, hacked the website of the West Virginia Chiefs of Police Association, obtaining sensitive information on police officers as well as log-in credentials for the website, according to the Associated Press.

In this incident, the hackers were able to obtain officer ranks, usernames, passwords, e-mail addresses, home addresses and home and cell-phone numbers, which CabinCr3w dumped online in a massive post.

The hackers, in their posting, stated, "We are here to remind you that we the taxpayers pay your exorbitant salaries, and those salaries of your officers. Your job is to protect and serve, not brutalize the very people that pay your wages. Muzzle your dogs of war, or we will expose more of your sensative [sic] information."

In another attack, CabinCr3w went after the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association website, according to the website Office of Inadequate Security.

CabinCr3w, as well as hackers Kahuna and W0rmer, didn't release any personal information from the Wisconsin site, but did reveal an administrative login and password. Another hacker, Visi0nZ, posted more than 500 e-mail addresses as well as administrative logins and passwords.

More Hacking Incidents

Also in recent days, the Salt Lake City Police Department was attacked by Anonymous, and information was leaked online, including e-mail addresses, the Associated Press reported.

New Jersey's Newark Police Foundation website also was hacked, according to CabinCr3w's Twitter, with Anonymous defacing the website's homepage, writing, "The Newark Police Foundation (NPF) doesn't understand the concept of changing a password when someone else has it."

In a posting on the @OpPiggyBank Twitter, the name taken for the various attacks against police websites, one tweet warns, "If the Police Are Mad Now About #OpPiggyBank, They Have No Idea What We Have In Store Soon #ExpectUs #CabinCr3w."