Russian hackers have spread confidential data of the British police on the "dark" Internet (darknet), after their request for ransom was rejected, writes the British tabloid Mail on Sunday.
The publication notes that "confidential information stored by British police was stolen by Russian hackers due to an annoying security breach." "Cybercrime gang Clop has published some of the material stolen from the IT company (Dacoll), which manages access to the police computer system PKS) in the so-called" shadow network "(darknet) with the threat of further spread," the newspaper said.
Clop is believed to have demanded a ransom from Dacoll. According to the publication, the data from cybercriminals were obtained thanks to a phishing attack in October, when they gained access to materials, including from the PKS, containing personal information and records of 13 million people. When Dacoll refused to pay, hackers uploaded hundreds of files to the darknet. The company refused to disclose the amount of the requested ransom. Dacoll is a provider of IT solutions in the United Kingdom and one of its subsidiaries, NDI Technologies, provides remote information services to 90% of police officers. Another Dacoll company, NDI Recognition Systems, provides IT support for systems used on highways in England.
The stolen files allegedly contained images of motorists that Clop hackers apparently took from the National Automatic Number Recognition System (ANPR). The shots contain close-up images of the faces of the drivers, taken at the moment of speeding.
"We are aware of this incident and are working with law enforcement partners to fully understand and mitigate any potential impact," a spokesman for the National Cyber Security Center told the paper. According to a spokesman for the National Anti-Crime Agency, his office is aware of the incident and is cooperating in the investigation.
A Dacoll spokesman confirmed that the company was the victim of a cybersecurity incident on October 5th. "We were able to quickly return to our normal operating level. The incident was limited to an internal network that was not connected to any of our customers' networks or services," he added.
Philip Ingram, a national security expert and former British military intelligence colonel, said the leak "called into question the cybersecurity mechanisms that exist between many public and private law enforcement agencies."
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