Hackers Say They Stole 250GB of Internal Documents From DC Police

Hackers with the Babuk Locker ransomware gang claim to have steal 250 GB of raw inner text file belong to to the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington , DC , and are now extorting the public representation for an unknown sum of money .

The steal documents that the cybercriminals are now peril to publish admit intelligence on urban gang activity , local police informants , disciplinal files on the MPD ’s own officers , and what seem to be information on the way ’s reply to the violent Jan. 6 Capitol wow .

Screenshots of some of the information were posted on the gang ’s glum web “ leak site ” on Monday afternoon , in an effort to spur police into abide by with their demands .

Photo: Tasos Katopodis (Getty Images)

Babuk , which is a comparatively fresh ransomware gang , has been referred to as a “ Big Game Hunter ” for its strategy of aim prominent institution to secure big payouts . As part of its extortion strategy against MPD , the gang is currently threatening to expose government activity source embed within local condemnable mesh if their ransom request is not run across in a period of three days . On its site , hackers pen in humiliated English that it was “ 0 daylight ” for its victims :

We have download a sufficient amount of information from your internal networks , and we send word you to contact us as soon as possible , to forestall leakage , if no reply is received within 3 days , we will start to get through gang in decree to drain the informants , we will continue to assail the state sector of the usa , fbi csa , we obtain 0 day before you , even larger attack expect you soon ..

When questioned about the incident by email , an MPD representative sustain that the constabulary section had been hack . “ We are aware of unauthorised access on our server . While we determine the full impact and carry on to review activity , we have lease the FBI to fully inquire this matter , ” say Sean Hickman , a public selective information ship’s officer .

Screenshot: Lucas Ropek

Screenshot: Lucas Ropek

There ’s a lot going on in the screenshots station by the hackers , and you could definitely see how these documents , if authentic , would prove problematic , were they free . Some of this include :

A department of files that are dated tightlipped to the geological period directly after the Jan. 6 insurrection . Multiple files reference some sorting of law enforcement operation , dubbed “ Operation Stormbreaker , ” including a “ Target chart ” and a “ Target list . ” Another Word document is simply titled “ FBI Arrests as of morning of 1 - 13 - 2021 . ”

A wealthiness of document that reference intelligence activity workplace tie in to local work party activity in the metro area . file cabinet folders with title like “ STREET GANGS , ” “ Latino Gangs , ” “ Gang Conflict Report , ” “ BLOODS , ” and one entitle “ BEEFS – CONFLICTS , ” are included . One is labeled “ District Intelligence Officers Program , ” which , according to one appendage ’s LinkedIn visibility , focuses on “ street spirit level vicious intelligence service and public rubber info aggregation . ”

Screenshot: Lucas Ropek

Screenshot: Lucas Ropek

Other files seem like unearthly , perfect easter testicle for internet paranoiacs . Probably most challenging for the tin foil chapeau bunch is one folder just labeled “ Comet Conspiracy . ” One ca n’t help but be remind of the “ Pizzagate ” cabal hypothesis , the central premise of which was that devil - worshipping sex marketer worked out of the nonexistent basement of a DC - based pizzeria , Comet Ping Pong ( commonly called “ Comet Pizza ” ) .

There is also a significant leaning of files that appear to be disciplinary dossier on metro law officers — including full names .

The police are certainly in a tough position . Paying off cybercriminal gang is generally not something that law enforcement agencies are supposed to do . On the other hired hand , if they do n’t bear , and these written document are published ( and if they are lawful ) , they have the potency to create all sorts of bedlam . It would be especially bad for the agency to get dozens of officer disciplinary files leaked all over the net , given the politically explosive nature of policing in America right now . Similarly , the menace of outing police informants present a slew of job for MPD — and may press ransomware extortion strategies into uncharted soil .

Screenshot: Lucas Ropek