Weare Police Department stolen data found for sale on the dark web

• In a statement, town official disclosed that it was the victim of a malware attack launched between March 6-13, 2017.
• The files that were set for sale were labeled ‘sex offender registration’, ‘payroll’ and ‘Chief Kelly employment agreement’.

The Weare Police Department has disclosed that it had fallen victim to a cyber attack in 2017. The incident came to the light after a local cybersecurity firm warned the officials after finding data being sold on the dark web.

What happened?

According to a report, Wapack Labs security analyst Yury Polozov had found some confidential data in January 2018 while investigating a hacking group known as Huckster. Polozov said that the Weare Police Department was one of the victims in the hack.

In a statement, town official disclosed that it was the victim of a malware attack launched between March 6-13, 2017. Although the state administrator has refuted the misuse of any data, Wapack Labs said that it has found files - that belongs to the department - which were being sold for 1 bitcoin.

What data is involved?

The files that were set for sale were labeled ‘sex offender registration’, ‘payroll’ and ‘Chief Kelly employment agreement’. It also included some important documents on official department letterhead.

What actions have been taken?

The Weare Board of Selectmen said that the town acted quickly after it came to known about the matter.

“Upon learning of the issue, we conducted a prompt and thorough investigation. As part of that, we worked with external cybersecurity professionals,” said Chairman Ricky Hippler.