Cybercriminals have allegedly stolen a large amount of sensitive 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 can include unredacted criminal complaints and personal information, such as witness names and medical data, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Emma Best, the founder of transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets, which hosts the data, said in an online post that the extortion gang World Leaks is behind the data breach.
Best said she was able to review some of the leaked data when it was posted — and then 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’s not clear for what reason the data is no longer listed on World Leaks’ website.
In a public statement, the LAPD said it is investigating the breach, which it said did not involve LAPD systems or networks, but rather affected “a digital storage system” belonging to the LA City Attorney’s Office.
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The LAPD said it is “working with the LA City Attorney’s Office to gain access to the impacted files to understand the full scope of the data breach.”
According to The Los Angeles Times, most police officer records under California state law are deemed private. The newspaper said that the leak, if proven authentic, would represent a “stunning breach of police data,” as police records are rarely disclosed or published.
The breach reportedly exposed 7.7 terabytes of data and more than 337,000 files.
Spokespeople for the LAPD and the LA LA City Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. The hackers could not be reached for comment.
World Leaks started its activities in January 2025 as an apparent rebrand of a previous group known as Hunters International. Since then, the group has compromised organizations across several industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, technology, and others.
According to cybersecurity firm Halcyon, the hackers have “demonstrated capability against defense contractors and Fortune 500 organizations.”
