AntiSec hackers release data from over 50 law enforcement agencies

By Mike Flacy August 6, 2011

Antisec-Graffiti — Image used with permission by copyright holder

In a massive 10GB data cache titled ‘Shooting Sherrifs Saturday’, the AntiSec organization released the contents of over 300 email accounts across 56 law enforcement agencies, police training videos and identities of persons submitting tips though an anonymous tip system. Email correspondence contains private information including social security numbers for police officers as well as credit card numbers, email addresses, home addresses and personal exchanges between officers. In addition, members of AntiSec claim to have used the stolen credit card numbers to place donations to the Bradley Manning Support Network, ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation and other organizations.

This release comes after a similar release in June where the organization released a vast amount of user information from a FBI contractor as well as the “Chinga La Migra” leak of data from many Arizona police officers from LulzSec. AntiSec obtained the SSS data after hacking into a server containing over 70 websites of law enforcement agencies, mostly Missouri county sheriff offices. The websites in question are rumored to have been taken offline and the sites that remain online have shifted to static HTML content rather than dynamic PHP. AntiSec hacked the server a second time after police officials claimed to have moved to a more secure server after the first intrusion. Beyond personal data of officers, other data includes PDFs, videos and HTML files regarding police academy training as well as a list of over 60 informants.

Both of these releases are in response to the recent worldwide arrests of prominent individuals within both the Anonymous and LulzSec hacking organizations, including the arrest of alleged 18-year-old, LulzSec member Jake Davis otherwise known as Topiary. Davis was released on bail following the arrest with restrictions on using the Internet from a PC or smartphone as well as a curfew. LulzSec’s co-founder, known only as Sabu, claimed on Twitter to be at the Defcon conference this week in Las Vegas, but was unable to be found by attendees of the conference.

Contributing Editor

By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…

Computing

How to pin a website to the taskbar in Windows

A man sits, using a laptop running the Windows 11 operating system.

Windows includes many interesting tools, but if you’re like many people, more and more of your digital life is happening in your web browser and nowhere else. That being the case, you’ll want to keep your most important websites close at hand. The easiest way to access them in Windows is the Start menu and the taskbar, treating them more or less like programs in and of themselves.

Although easy overall, getting a website from your browser to your taskbar is slightly different depending on which browser you’re using.

Web

Amazon’s Big Spring sale: Save on TVs, laptops, appliances, and more

Amazon Big Spring sale promo image

Deal hunter or not, you'll be pleased to know that Amazon's Big Spring sale is officially underway. It's your opportunity to save on a slew of buzzworthy deals, including TVs, laptops, appliances, various electronics, and much more. It shows that you don't always have to wait for Amazon's Prime Day to capitalize on fantastic discounts. If you've been holding off on buying something, hoping for a great deal, now's the time to pull the trigger. Because the sale is so massive, we've gathered a few of our top picks below. However, we still recommend browsing the sale to see what you can find.

What to shop in the Amazon Big Spring sale
For starters, if you want a new tablet, Samsung, Lenovo, and Google during the sale. The Galaxy Tab A9+ is available for 19% to 23% off. Meanwhile, Google's Pixel Tablet is 19% to 25% off, depending on the model. Samsung's , and its gaming monitor is down to $140, usually $190. Or, the beautiful and much larger curved gaming monitor is $700, normally $1,300.

Computing

How to create a Subreddit on desktop and mobile

Laptop Working from Home

Few social media sites are as popular as Reddit. Regardless of what you're interested in, there's probably a thriving community for you to interact with on the platform. Known as subreddits, these communities are home to topics like gaming, world news, science, movies, and more. If you can't find a subreddit with your particular interest, Reddit makes it easy to create your own Reddit community.

Running a successful Reddit community isn't easy – but the process of starting one only takes a few minutes. Keep in mind that you'll want to keep a close eye on your subreddit to prevent it from being shut down or turning into a wasteland with no users, but running a subreddit can be a lot of fun when done properly. If you prefer, you can also create a private community that only your friends can join, giving you a place to hang out beyond Twitter and TikTok.