Lulzsec Leaks Classified Arizona Police Documents

Notorious hacker group LulzSec has claimed responsibility for breaking into the computers of an Arizona police department and leaking internal documents on the Internet.

Lulzsec said on 23 June that its latest attack, dubbed “Chinga La Migra” (Spanish for “Screw the Immigration Service”), had targeted the Arizona Department of Public Safety because of its tough stance on immigration.

“We are targeting AZDPS specifically because we are against SB1070 and the racial profiling anti immigrant police state that is Arizona,” the group said in a press release.

Fighting immigration laws

SB1070 is the ‘Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act’, which was scheduled to go into effect on 29 July 2010, but has been delayed due to legal challenges over its constitutionality and compliance with civil rights law. It is a legislative Act in the US state of Arizona that has spurred considerable controversy for being the broadest and strictest measure against illegal immigration in recent US history.

The leaked data includes private intelligence bulletins, training manuals and personal email correspondence, as well as names, phone numbers, addresses and passwords of employees. In some cases it also includes contact details of employees’ family members. LulzSec said the documents were classified as “law enforcement sensitive”, “not for public distribution”, and “for official use only,” and are primarily related to border patrol and counter-terrorism operations.

“Every week we plan on releasing more classified documents and embarassing personal details of military and law enforcement in an effort not just to reveal their racist and corrupt nature but to purposefully sabotage their efforts to terrorize communities fighting an unjust ‘war on drugs’,” said Lulszec.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety has responded to the news, stating that is aware of the hack and that it is looking into the issue. “Of course we’re taking additional security safeguards,”  added Steve Harrison, a spokesman for the department, speaking to Reuters.

In a snarky tweet, Lulzsec linked to an article in the Wall Street Journal, in which the Arizona police confirmed that the leaked documents were authentic. “A lulz lizard always pays his debts,” the writer added.

Hackers unite

Many of the tweets include the hashtag #Antisec, referring to the collaboration announced this week between Lulzsec and hacktivist group Anonymous, which was responsible for bringing down the websites of companies that opposed Wikileaks earlier this year. The two organisations have reportedly teamed up to increase their efforts in stealing and leaking classified government information.

Lulzsec has also claimed responsibility for launching Denial of Service attacks against he sites of the Brazilian government, the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the NHS, the US Senate and the CIA, as well as stealing details of thousands of Sony Playstation, Nintendo and Sega Pass users.

“Hackers of the world are uniting and taking direct action against our common oppressors – the government, corporations, police, and militaries of the world. See you again real soon! ;D,” proclaimed Lulzsec’s release.

Meanwhile, police continue to question alleged LulzSec hacker Ryan Cleary, who is charged with five offences under the Computer Misuse Act and Criminal Law Act. The charges relate specifically to the attack on SOCA’s website, as well as similar attacks on the websites of the British Phonographic Industry and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry by Anonymous last year.

However, since Cleary’s arrest, LulzSec has repeatedly denied that he is a member of the group, much less a leader.