Hackers have reportedly gained access to personal information about Los Angeles Police Department officers, Internal Affairs documents and more in a breach of a major LA city office.
A trove of sensitive data was leaked in a hack last month involving the LA City Attorney’s office, according to the Los Angeles Times report.
In all, more than 7.7 terabytes of the personal information was available for anyone to see online, reportedly involving nearly 340,000 files.
The data was not only connected to personal data about LAPD officers, but also to discovery in court cases which reportedly included unredacted information about things like names and medical information about witnesses, investigative files, and criminal complaints.
It is unclear at this time how many officers names and personal information got swept up in the reported attack on the department that employs nearly 9,000 officers.
Most of the information about police officer records is considered private, under state law. Internal Affairs documents are typically not seen, except in court documents, and even then, they are heavily blocked out, the report noted.
Some of the information already started surfacing on social media platforms. One account on X, who makes posts related to police accountability, had a post reportedly connected to the records leak, the Times noted.
But by Tuesday afternoon, the post about a reported security breach at the LA office from a “security researcher,” was taken down.
The outlet noted that it is unclear if there was any ransom issued as part of the breach or if anyone connected to the city paid it.
News of the reported security breach brought some attacks against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the LA City Council.
“Good job, @MayorOfLA and @LACityCouncil!,” one person wrote, apparently with sarcasm. “Trove of sensitive LAPD records leaked in suspected hack.”
Another person wrote. “I’m so tired. This is the second cyberattack that I know of to hit LA within a few weeks, other California cities are also facing cybersecurity leaks again within the past month, and there’s a huge uptick in online services requiring PII they don’t need, putting you more at risk.”
It is unclear at this time how extensive and how much the impact the reported hack could have on upcoming cases.
The California Post reached out to the LAPD and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office for further comment.
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