Hackers steal and leak sensitive LAPD police documents TechCrunch
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ppCybercriminals have allegedly stolen a large amount of sensitive internal documents from the Los Angeles Police Department and leaked the data onlineppThe stolen data included police officer personnel files internal affairs investigations and discovery documents that can include unredacted criminal complaints and personal information such as witness names and medical data according to the Los Angeles Times ppEmma Best the founder of transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets which hosts the data said in an online post that the extortion gang World Leaks is behind the data breach ppBest said she was able to review some of the leaked data when it was posted and then deleted on the gangs leak website where the group publicizes its breaches in an attempt to pressure its victims into paying a ransom ppIts not clear for what reason the data is no longer listed on World Leaks websiteppIn a public statement the LAPD said it is investigating the breach which it said did not involve LAPD systems or networks but rather affected a digital storage system belonging to the Los Angeles City Attorneys Office pp ppThe LAPD said it is working with the LA City Attorneys Office to gain access to the impacted files to understand the full scope of the data breachppAccording to the Los Angeles Times most police officer records under California state law are deemed private The newspaper said that the leak if proven authentic would represent a stunning breach of police data as police records are rarely disclosed or publishedppThe breach reportedly exposed 77 terabytes of data and more than 337000 files ppIvor Pine a spokesperson for the LA City Attorneys Office told TechCrunch that the office became aware of unauthorized access to a thirdparty tool without naming it The information was self contained in this application without any links or access to any department records or systems Pine said in en emailppAn LAPD spokesperson declined to comment referring to the departments public statement on XppThe hackers could not be reached for comment ppWorld Leaks started its activities in January 2025 as an apparent rebrand of a previous group known as Hunters International Since then the group has compromised organizations across several industries including healthcare manufacturing technology and othersppAccording to cybersecurity firm Halcyon the hackers have demonstrated capability against defense contractors and Fortune 500 organizationsppUpdated to included responses from LAPD and the LA City Attorneys OfficeppTopicspp
Senior Reporter Cybersecurity
ppLorenzo FranceschiBicchierai is a Senior Writer at TechCrunch where he covers hacking cybersecurity surveillance and privacy ppYou can contact or verify outreach from Lorenzo by emailing lorenzotechcrunchcom via encrypted message at 1 917 257 1382 on Signal and lorenzofb on KeybaseTelegramppStrictlyVC kicks off the year in SF Get in the room for unfiltered fireside chats with industry leaders insider VC insights and highvalue connections that actually move the needle Tickets are limitedpp Palantir posts minimanifesto denouncing inclusivity and regressive cultures
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ppCybercriminals have allegedly stolen a large amount of sensitive internal documents from the Los Angeles Police Department and leaked the data onlineppThe stolen data included police officer personnel files internal affairs investigations and discovery documents that can include unredacted criminal complaints and personal information such as witness names and medical data according to the Los Angeles Times ppEmma Best the founder of transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets which hosts the data said in an online post that the extortion gang World Leaks is behind the data breach ppBest said she was able to review some of the leaked data when it was posted and then deleted on the gangs leak website where the group publicizes its breaches in an attempt to pressure its victims into paying a ransom ppIts not clear for what reason the data is no longer listed on World Leaks websiteppIn a public statement the LAPD said it is investigating the breach which it said did not involve LAPD systems or networks but rather affected a digital storage system belonging to the Los Angeles City Attorneys Office pp ppThe LAPD said it is working with the LA City Attorneys Office to gain access to the impacted files to understand the full scope of the data breachppAccording to the Los Angeles Times most police officer records under California state law are deemed private The newspaper said that the leak if proven authentic would represent a stunning breach of police data as police records are rarely disclosed or publishedppThe breach reportedly exposed 77 terabytes of data and more than 337000 files ppIvor Pine a spokesperson for the LA City Attorneys Office told TechCrunch that the office became aware of unauthorized access to a thirdparty tool without naming it The information was self contained in this application without any links or access to any department records or systems Pine said in en emailppAn LAPD spokesperson declined to comment referring to the departments public statement on XppThe hackers could not be reached for comment ppWorld Leaks started its activities in January 2025 as an apparent rebrand of a previous group known as Hunters International Since then the group has compromised organizations across several industries including healthcare manufacturing technology and othersppAccording to cybersecurity firm Halcyon the hackers have demonstrated capability against defense contractors and Fortune 500 organizationsppUpdated to included responses from LAPD and the LA City Attorneys OfficeppTopicspp
Senior Reporter Cybersecurity
ppLorenzo FranceschiBicchierai is a Senior Writer at TechCrunch where he covers hacking cybersecurity surveillance and privacy ppYou can contact or verify outreach from Lorenzo by emailing lorenzotechcrunchcom via encrypted message at 1 917 257 1382 on Signal and lorenzofb on KeybaseTelegramppStrictlyVC kicks off the year in SF Get in the room for unfiltered fireside chats with industry leaders insider VC insights and highvalue connections that actually move the needle Tickets are limitedpp Palantir posts minimanifesto denouncing inclusivity and regressive cultures
pp Tokenmaxxing is making developers less productive than they think
pp Anthropic launches Claude Design a new product for creating quick visuals
pp Physical Intelligence a hot robotics startup says its new robot brain can figure out tasks it was never taught
pp Anthropic CPO leaves Figmas board after reports he will offer a competing product
pp After sale of its shoe business Allbirds pivots to AI
pp An Amazon warehouse worker died on the job at Oregon facility
pp 2026 TechCrunch Media LLCp
