Hackers reveal K-9 officers' data

[Jake Kouns <jkouns () opensecurityfoundation org>]

In the latest in an ongoing series of online attacks on law
enforcement, hackers released personal information of more than 100
members of a police K-9 association, triggering a criminal
investigation by the FBI.

Hackers breached the website of the Los Angeles County Police Canine
Association on Tuesday and later publicly posted addresses and phone
numbers of members, who are both sworn officers at local law
enforcement agencies and civilian dog handlers assisting in search and
rescue operations.

"I'm appalled that there are people out there who would do this to
other people," said Tony Vairo, president of LACPCA and a sergeant
with the San Fernando Police Department. "Obviously, they have great
talents and they're putting their talents on the wrong side of the
law."

The hackers are associated with the hacker collective Anonymous, which
in December posted personal information, including children's names
and phone numbers, of two dozen high- ranking LAPD command staff in
retaliation for the department's raid on the Occupy L.A. encampment.

Anonymous has been targeting law enforcement agencies across the U.S.
as part of the Occupy movement, alleging police injustices and making
public the personal information of officers in a move known as
"doxing."

The group claims to have obtained personal information of more than
1,000 officers nationwide in the last three weeks, as well as search
warrants and court documents.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller declined to comment on the agency's
involvement in Tuesday's case.
LAPD was still trying to figure out how many of their officers were
affected by the breach.

Three or four deputies with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department had
their information released in the posting, although it was mostly
work-related information and did not compromise their safety, said
spokesman Capt. Mike Parker.

"The information that was obtained could be obtained through public
records," Parker said.

Members typically provide their name, address, agency, work history,
certifications, name and breed of their K-9 when signing up for the
LACPCA website, Vairo said.

But the hackers appeared to have used information gleaned from the
breach to dig deeper into members' online accounts elsewhere.

The group claimed to have found some objectionable photos of children
in one member's private email account, which they accessed by using
the same password as the one for LACPCA, according to CNET. The
content would be reported to appropriate agencies protecting children
from online exploitation, the group said.

Vairo said the member in question is a civilian.

"We're not too worried," Vairo said. "If something leads to one of our
members involved in some kind of criminal activity, then so be it.
They'll need to answer to it."
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