A massive cybersecurity breach has exposed approximately 7.7 terabytes of sensitive records belonging to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), raising serious concerns about data security and the protection of confidential information within one of the largest police departments in the United States.
Hackers reportedly accessed sensitive data, including personal information of officers, Internal Affairs records, and other confidential files, during a breach involving a major Los Angeles city office tied to the Los Angeles Police Department.
A trove of sensitive data was leaked in a hack last month involving the LA City Attorney’s office, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to The Post.
“LAPD is aware of an incident within the LA City Attorney’s Office, where unauthorized individuals gained access to a digital storage system, the statement posted on X read.
“This digital storage contained discovery documents from previously adjudicated or settled LAPD civil litigation cases. The breach does not involve any LAPD systems or networks.”
The department said they take “this incident very seriously and are working with the LA City Attorney’s Office to gain access to the impacted files to understand the full scope of the data breach.”
“LAPD is committed to safeguarding its sensitive personnel and investigative information.”
In all, more than 7.7 terabytes of the personal information was available for anyone to see online, reportedly involving nearly 340,000 files, according to the Los Angeles Times report.
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, the report noted.
Most of the information about police officer personnel 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.
It is unclear at this time how many officers’ names and personal information got swept up in the attack on the department that employs nearly 9,000 officers.
Some of the information already started surfacing on social media platforms. One account on X, which makes posts related to police accountability, had a post reportedly connected to the records leak, the Times noted.