Just three days ago I told you about an FBI warning to police departments around the country that hackers are actively attempting to not only hack into the computers of the police departments, but also searching the Internet for personal information on police officers and then making this information public, which can put the officer in danger of identity theft or worse.  This tactic which is called “doxing” has now been used against the Cape Coral, Florida Police Department.  Hackers claiming to be in the notorious hacking group, Anonymous posted videos online threatening members of the Cape Coral, Florida Police Department with doxing in response to a recent conviction of Travis Robey on charges of violently resisting a police officer stemming from an incident last June.  Hackers, claiming to be part of Anonymous posted personal information about members of the Cape Coral Police Department including their names, addresses and phone numbers, which they said they obtained by hacking into the computers of the Cape Coral Police Department.  The Cape Coral Police Department denies that their computers have been hacked and are conjecturing that Anonymous managed to get this information from public sources.

TIPS

There are many lessons to be learned from this.  As I have reported in the past, police departments have become a frequent target for hackers including those who have used Ransomware to prevent police departments from being able to access their data unless they pay a ransom as well as malicious hackers who use doxing to put officers in jeopardy.  In many instances, the information obtained is information that can be found through social media or public data sources and this should serve as a stern warning to all of us to be more careful about the personal information that we put on social media or share with other public sources.  The less information that is available about you on line, the safer you are from identity theft and other personal threats.