Anonymous Hacks SLC Police Website

[accadacca]

Still down: http://www.slcpd.com

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Salt Lake City police took their website offline Tuesday afternoon, after it was hacked.

At about 2:30 p.m., police started seeing information on the department’s website that "weren’t in line with our typical postings," prompting closure of the site, said Salt Lake City Police spokesman Shawn Josephson. All employees also changed their passwords.

The group taking the credit for the hack is a collective known as Anonymous. According to a news release from police, the hacker group says the attack is a response to an anti-graffiti paraphernalia bill being sponsored by state Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City. Currently, the bill in its amended state, prohibits any person to possess any instrument, tool or device with the intent of vandalizing an area with graffiti. Offenders would be guilty of a class C misdemeanor. Depending on the extent of the vandalism, the crime could be boosted to a felony.

On the website, http://pastebin.com/tpit8bD3, the people claiming to be responsible for the hacking posted their motivations for the attack. They criticize the bill for being too broad, an attempt "to resolve an inconvenience with a flamethrower." The post ridicules the bill’s attempt to enforce law "based on suspected intent."

"Has your Senator Karen Mayne watched Minority Report too many times?" the writers ask.

Mayne does not live in Salt Lake City or represent it.

Josephson said police are looking into all possible scenarios of how access was obtained and when the site was hacked.

Police intend on securing the site before it is brought back online and looking into what criminal charges may be filed against the group or individuals involved.

"We are seeking prosecution," Josephson said.

Those claiming to have hacked the site tweeted Tuesday evening that they were able to obtain confidential sensitive information. However, Josephson said the site is not linked to information in police reports or other confidential documents. Hackers gathered email information of registered users on the police website. Police said no confidential information was taken from the site.

"The website was built as a standalone communication feature to increase dialogue about public safety issues in a proactive manner. For this reason it was not integrated with Department or City databases," the news release states.

The police website was designed to allow communication with the public and police. There is not a set date or time for when the site will be back up and running, but in the meantime the public can maintain access to news from police at slcpd.blogspot.com.

"It is important for the public to be involved and we don’t want to let a group prevent us from making that communication with the public," Josephson said.

The hack will not affect the routine work of the agency, but now citizens cannot access information on the site.

cimaron@sltrib.com
Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53417158-78/police-website-group-information.html.csp

Twitter: @CimCity

[trackrunner]

for all the crazy stuff that comes out of this legislature this is what pushed them over the edge? where were they during the gutting of open records laws which is up again this year

[Deathcricket]

for all the crazy stuff that comes out of this legislature this is what pushed them over the edge? where were they during the gutting of open records laws which is up again this year

It's interesting I agree. They attack several targets simultaneously and the hackers only use their bots to attack for causes they believe in. There is much disagreement on what causes are "just" or not. So anonymous attacks can greatly vary in intensity and effectiveness. My guess though is the SLC police website was not well protected and was taken down with minimal effort. And now they are playing it up like it was some major attack for sympathy. Hard to know for sure though what's going on out there.

Edit: Actually just finished reading the statement they sent, pretty interesting stuff actually.




Dear Salt Lake City Police Department,
We took note http://fur.ly/0/MaynePlot that Senator Karen Mayne has put forth a bill SB107 - http://fur.ly/0/MaynePlotBill that tries to resolve an inconvenience with a flamethrower. Regardless whether the messages spray painted are disturbing, this bill sets an attitude that will down the line lead to invasions of privacy in people's homes and raids at 6 am over spray paint. We know that law enforcement functions as a mindless machine led by InfraGard, PERF, and other domestic civil intelligence (so marches the security state) networks. We know there's money to be made in the "just doing my job" compartmentalized economy. Therefore we know that regardless of the intent of Karen Mayne's haphazard lawmaking, this will end in corporations selling miniature drones to police offers chasing 13 year olds. We will act now as we have seen other "well-meaning" legislation open the door to tyranny and financing of oppression. There is no denying where this will end in 3 to 5 years or perhaps sooner.
Has your Senator Karen Mayne watched Minority Report too many times? A law prohibiting ownership and use of purchased products based on suspected intent? Is she kidding? The purpose of the law is not to prevent crime, but to manage it. The public gets the benefit of the doubt. A little too zealous wethinks. Perhaps a little pre-emptive action will drive the point home. As the foot soldiers for this bill, you get a taste of Mayne's witch hunt mentality. There are plenty of means to prosecute defacement of both private and public property in a general way. There's also the fact that some of this behavior may fall under civil rather criminal context.
A felony has a serious effect on a person's liberties after serving sentences, including loss of second amendment rights. And is this really the way to handle it? Perhaps Karen Mayne should be looking into why your neighborhoods are drawing this kind of behavior? Not acknowledging grievances and social issues such as poverty can lead to communities forming their own identities separate from their leaders. If all the senator has to offer is a policy that will lead to a self-righteous escalation of enforcement, consider this our deterrent.
We are Anonymous
We are Legion
We do not forgive
We do not forget
Expect us




SALT LAKE CITY — A white vinyl fence in Sen. Karen Mayne's neighborhood is a frequent target of graffiti artists.
"I’m just tired of this. I'm tired of the naughty words. I'm tired of the swastikas," Mayne said Monday during floor debate in the Utah Senate.
Mayne has introduced a bill, SB107 (http://le.utah.gov/%7E2012/htmdoc/sbillhtm/sb0107.htm), that would prohibit the possession of "any instrument, tool or device that is commonly used to make graffiti with the intent to deface the property of another." Violators could be charged with a class C misdemeanor.
Click to enlarge (http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/midres/web-746312.jpg)
http://static.deseretnews.com/images/article/sidebar/746312/Graffiti-in-the-area-of-150-South-Main-Street-in.jpg (http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/midres/web-746312.jpg) Ravell Call, Deseret News
Graffiti in the area of 150 South Main Street in Salt Lake City, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011.







Mayne, D-West Valley City, wants to give law enforcement the tools to more effectively deal with this issue, she said. "I don't want him to have to paint or repair that fence again," she said of her neighbor.
The bill, Mayne said, is aimed at the "habitual person."
Police sometimes encounter people with multiple cans of spray paint and ladders "but they can't do anything about it," she said.
After several minutes of debate during the bill's second reading, the bill was held in the Senate over questions of enforcement.
Salt Lake attorney Brian Barnard said the bill, as drafted, poses many concerns.
It would be difficult for prosecutors to prove criminal intent and such a law would give police broader latitude when they encounter someone who possesses these items.
"That's not to say the problem shouldn't be dealt with, but there may be other ways of dealing with it," Barnard said.
Conceivably, police might view a man in a three-piece suit holding a can of spray paint differently than a young man "in a hip-hop outfit with their baseball cap on backward."
"How do you determine their mental intent?" Barnard queried.
If it's midnight and someone's in a retail area after the stores are closed and they are carrying 12 cans of paint and a ladder, "clearly they should be stopped and questioned," Barnard said.
"There may be other statutes that can be used against them rather than passing some new statute that requires mind-reading."
Otherwise, Barnard said, "you have to wait until someone commits the crime. Sorry, that’s what civil rights are about."
Meeting with members of the press later on Monday, Senate leaders acknowledged that graffiti is a growing problem but said debate on the bill raised questions.
"There's a lot of steps left before that bill becomes law," said Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville.