[BreachExchange] City Investigating Breach That Exposed Personal Data of LAPD Officers and About 20, 000 Applicants

[Destry Winant]

https://ktla.com/2019/07/29/city-investigating-breach-that-exposed-personal-data-of-lapd-officers-applicants/

Los Angeles city computers were breached last week in a data theft
potentially involving the personal information of about 20,000
applicants to the police department, including hundreds who are now
sworn officers.

The cyberattack highlights the vulnerability of government computer
systems, with the city of Los Angeles subjected to billions of hacking
attempts in the last five years, according to Ted Ross, general
manager of the city’s Information Technology Agency.

A person who identified himself or herself as a hacker contacted the
city last Thursday, revealing inside knowledge of a database of people
who applied to the LAPD between 2010 and 2018 or early 2019, Ross
said.

City officials were concerned that the entire database was compromised
and quickly began notifying the job applicants, who had logged on to a
website for updates during the lengthy process of becoming a police
officer.