WHO HAS THEIR BACKS? IT’S PROBABLY NOT WHO YOU THINK.
WHO HAS THEIR BACKS? IT’S PROBABLY NOT WHO YOU THINK.
As the Ferguson riots raged on this past summer and fall, Missouri State Police and St. Louis County Police descended upon that city to help the local police handle the rioting and looting that occurred as a result of the killing of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson. When the decision not to indict Officer Wilson was made in November, rioting ensued again. This led to state and county police responding, along with thousands of national guardsmen. Thousands of people flocked to Ferguson to confront local police and cause damage to an already struggling community. The nation watched as officers put themselves on the front lines trying to protect a community from instigators and agitators that came to the city to cause harm.
What most people didn’t realize was that when these officers went home the battle was not over yet. Activists and hackers brought the fight to the Ferguson Police department into their homes. The hacker group, “Anonymous”, initially started the attack on Ferguson PD by releasing the 911 tapes prematurely. Members of the group also posted this threat:
“We are watching you very closely. If you abuse, harass or harm in any way the protesters in Ferguson we will take every web-based asset of your departments and governments offline,” Anonymous’ idiosyncratic electronic voice hummed. “That is not a threat. It is a promise.”
Hackers joined the cause, attacking officers’ personal finances. Officers needed to retreat to their homes after their shifts to fight off an attack by identity thieves. In the initial days of the conflict in Ferguson, officers would find that multiple credit cards were taken out in their names and that second and third mortgages were being requested. Some officers would spend hours defending themselves and their city on the streets only to have to defend themselves again inside their homes.
Hacker’s didn’t restrict themselves only to Ferguson Police officials. They went after police officers, family members and elected officials in nearby areas as well. The Colonel of the Missouri Highway Patrol, Ronald Repogle, had his personal information posted online for all to see.
Identity thieves also attacked people not associated with local or state government. People with names similar to those published by “Anonymous” found that their identities were compromised also.
Even attempts by companies that specialize in identity and fraud protection were at times unsuccessful. Reports indicate that at least one of these companies was breached and password identification was changed, allowing thieves to bypass the system. Identity thieves attacked savings accounts and checking accounts. In one case, a family member had sixteen thousand dollars in fraudulent checks passed from their account.
Hacking incidents have been made against public officials prior to the Ferguson attacks, but many of these attacks were focused around the municipal or state websites. Some of these cyber attacks were directed against individuals but not to the extent that occurred in Ferguson.
So what are public officials to do going forward to help its employees? Cities spend thousands of dollars to protect their own infrastructure, but will they be willing to spend additional money to protect their employees’ personal information also? What responsibility does the government bear to protect its employees? I believe these levels of attacks will become commonplace against public officials involved in controversial incidents.
Today’s police officer has bulletproof vests, tactical gear and high-powered firearms to protect themselves on the street. Will it be far fetched to expect police unions to start to negotiate subscriptions to identity protection companies like LifeLock in future contracts? Will these groups make life so intolerable for police departments that recruiting future officers will become more difficult than it already is? Soon police academies may need to start teaching officers how to protect their personal finances along with self-defense classes. A week in a computer lab may be part of the curriculum along with the firing range or law classes.
Many people complain about the militarization of police departments around the country. Will a civilian version of the United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) to protect police officers from online thefts be far away? Will 911 dispatcher’s centers become credit-monitoring stations for officers? Will it be accountants and computer experts that watch over officers to insure they are safe?
