Industry News

Hacker collective AntiSec, whose name reflects its opposition to computer security measures, recently announced it infiltrated more than 70 U.S. law enforcement agency websites, and the group has begun to disseminate confidential information collected in the attacks.

Since its June launch, the AntiSec movement, whose members are believed to be associated with hacker groups Anonymous and LulzSec, has attacked government, corporate and military websites in an effort to take down institutions it describes as corrupt. AntiSec says the law enforcement website hacks were retaliation for arrests of alleged Anonymous members charged with participating in a PayPal hack last December.

AntiSec claims it accessed police officers' personal information, including email passwords and Social Security numbers, lists of informants, internal training documents and other sensitive information. It began posting this hacked material to Pastebin.com, though the website has removed the files, The Tech Herald reports. One of the victims confirmed to The Register that leaked information about him was accurate.

The attack shut down the Missouri Sheriff's Association website, the Columbia Daily Tribune reports.

Last June, LulzSec targeted law enforcement officers when it hacked the Arizona Department of Public Safety website to protest the state's immigration policies.