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posted by martyb on Monday July 02 2018, @09:40AM   Printer-friendly
from the caching-out dept.

Submitted via IRC for Fnord666

ZDNet Exclusive: Leaked data reveals many police departments are unable to respond in an active shooter situation.

A data breach at a federally funded active shooter training center has exposed the personal data of thousands of US law enforcement officials, ZDNet has learned.

The cache of data contained identifiable information on local and state police officers, and federal agents, who sought out or underwent active shooter response training in the past few years. The backend database powers the website of Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training -- known as ALERRT -- at Texas State University.

The database dates back to April 2017 and was uploaded a year later to a web server, believed to be owned by the organization, with no password protection.

ZDNet obtained a copy of the database, which was first found by a New Zealand-based data breach hunter, who goes by the pseudonym Flash Gordon.

Working with federal agencies like the FBI, the Texas-based organization provides training to law enforcement and civilians around the US in an effort to prevent or disrupt active shooter incidents. Since its inception in 2002, ALERRT has received tens of millions of dollars in funding from the Justice Department, Homeland Security, and several state governments.

[...] The database contained thousands of personal data records, including law enforcement officer's work contact information, with many of the records listing personal email addresses, work addresses, and cell numbers.

[...] tables included requests made by law enforcement reaching out to the organization for help through its web form. In doing so, many officials volunteered highly sensitive information about deficiencies in their jurisdiction, revealing their department's lack of training or capabilities.

[...] One police department openly admitted that it "doesn't have a full-time SWAT team," and is unable to respond to an active shooter situation. An ALERRT staffer responded, saying that the organization "couldn't facilitate his request at this time."

Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/a-massive-cache-of-law-enforcement-personnel-data-has-leaked/


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  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday July 02 2018, @11:06PM

    I legally own the land out to the middle of the road.

    Sort of. Eminent domain and easement laws make that not precisely the case. But that's off-point enough that I won't go into my feelings on eminent domain and easement laws.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
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