August 29, 2011
San Francisco Transit Police Targeted
The San Francisco Transit Police (BART) Officers Association website was recently breached by hackers who stole 100 names, passwords and addresses of police union members. Later, the group posted this sensitive information on Pastebin. This is evidence that hacker groups are targeting larger, more risky groups to acquire critical information and post it on the Internet.
Reason for the Attack
This hack is the result of several protests from July 3rd which involved a man throwing a bottle and knife at two police officers in front of the Civic Center BART station. The confrontation ended in the man being shot by one of the police officers.
The police union has been heavily criticized and targeted by free speech organizations as well as the hacking group Anonymous for their actions of disabling cellular phone service during the many protests. The transit authority refuted that it shut down all cellular phone service for public safety to curb protestors from utilizing mobile phones to create flash mobs which could lead to dangerous and violent protests.
Attack of mybart.org
Another important BART website, mybart.org, was also recently hacked. This time, the attackers defaced several web pages and posted mybart.org user information online. Again most of the data was sensitive and could lead to accounts being inappropriately used.
Shutting Down of BART Stations
Additionally, Anonymous assisted with the organization of a protest that resulted in BART Transit Police and San Francisco Police, shutting down four downtown BART stations for a few hours. There is no evidence as to who is responsible for the hacks but a report released by PCMag shows that a self-proclaimed first-time hacker was the accomplice.
No Identification of the Accomplice
Ironically, the Anonymous group is also unsure as to whether the first-time hacker is a member of their organization. Soon after the attack, the group Tweeted that the leak could have been the work of an individual who truly supports the Anonymous group. They also urged that the viewing public remain skeptical with regards to the assailant.
Lengthy Downtime
As of 11:00 am EST Thursday, the BART Police Officers Association website, BARTpoa.com was still down. This is almost an entire day after the attack. It is likely the information technology department of the San Francisco Police Department will be implementing additional security measures.
With hackers going bigger and bigger with their targets, it is difficult to determine which group will be attacked next. However, most major hacks appear to be in response to a recent event that displeases cybercriminal groups.
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