Hackers Target BART Police Site, Leak Personal Data

During the most recent hack, miscreants broke into the website of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police Officers Association, and published personal data that included full names, e-mail addresses, home addresses and passwords of the agency's officers.

The Wednesday hack prompted BART officials to take the police site offline.

However, unlike previous hacks, members of the global hacker collective Anonymous didn’t claim responsibility.

“FYI, No one claimed responsibility for the hack. Some random joe joined a channel and released the data to the press,” Anonymous hackers tweeted Wednesday.

“The leak today of BART officer data could be the work sanctioned by those who truly support anonymous, or agent provocateurs. Stay skeptical,” Anonymous hackers said in another Twitter post .

BART officials expressed concern for the employees whose personal information was exposed.

“We condemn this latest attack on the working men and women of BART,” said BART spokesman Jim Allison, in a statement. “We are deeply concerned about the safety and security of our employees and their families. We stand behind them and our customers who were the subject of an earlier attack. We are deeply troubled by these actions.”

BART officials said that the agency had enlisted the help of the FBI to address the matter.

Wednesday’s hack follows after Anonymous hackers successfully broke into the MyBART Web site Sunday to deface the page and publish names, addresses, e-mail, addresses and phone numbers of around 2,400 BART customers in protest of the transportation agency’s decision to shut down mobile phone service for several hours four downtown stations in order to thwart an anticipated public protest.

MyBART.org is a marketing website, used to generate BART ridership by offering deals and promotions, as well as news and information on local events and points of interest.

Protesters had planned to gather at the Civic Center BART station last Thursday to raise awareness about a deadly shooting of homeless man Charles Hill by BART police in July.

BART’s decision to shut down cell service in response to the protext captured the attention of civil liberty activists around the country, who accused BART officials of deliberately violating constitutionally protected free speech, while simultaneously jeopardizing the safety of riders by preventing them from calling emergency services if needed.

Meanwhile, members of Anonymous helped organize another public protest during the evening commute hours on Monday at the Civic Center BART Station.

“Today, we’ve seen America come alive. In the Bay Area, we’ve seen people gagged, and once more, Anonymous will attempt to show those engaging in the censorship what it feels like to be silenced,” Anonymous wrote in a press release. “You do not censor people because they wish to speak out against the wrongs the wrongful things occurring around them. The Bay Area Rapid Transit has made the conscious decision of ordering various cell phone companies to terminate services for the downtown area inhibiting those in the area from using cell phones - even in the case of an emergency.”

An estimated 100 protesters attended the rally Monday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, prompting BART to close four downtown stations in an effort to keep demonstrators outside the fare gates. However, the transportation agency left cell equipment running during that protest.