Cybercriminals allegedly stole a large amount of confidential internal documents from the Los Angeles Police Department and leaked the data online.
The stolen data included police officer personnel files, internal affairs investigations and discovery documents that may include unredacted criminal complaints and personal information such as witness names and medical data. according to the Los Angeles Times.
Emma Best, founder of transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets, which hosts the data, said in an online post that the World Leaks extortion gang is behind the data breach.
Best said he was able to review some of the leaked data when it was posted (and later deleted) on the gang’s leak website, where the group publicizes its breaches in an attempt to pressure its victims into paying a ransom.
It is unclear why the data no longer appears on the World Leaks website.
In a public statementThe LAPD said it is investigating the breach, which it said did not involve LAPD systems or networks but instead affected “a digital storage system” belonging to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
Contact us
Do you have more information about this violation? Or other data breaches? From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram and Keybase @lorenzofb, or email.
The LAPD said it is “working with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office to gain access to the affected files and understand the full scope of the data breach.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, most police officer records under California state law are considered private. The newspaper said the leak, if proven authentic, would represent a “striking breach of police data,” as police records are rarely disclosed or published.
The breach allegedly exposed 7.7 terabytes of data and more than 337,000 files.
Spokespeople for the LAPD and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. The hackers could not be reached for comment.
World Leaks began operations in January 2025 as an apparent rebranding of a previous group known as Hunters International. Since then, the group has engaged organizations across various industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, technology and others.
According cybersecurity company Halcyonhackers have “demonstrated capability against defense contractors and Fortune 500 organizations.”
