Hackers steal and leak sensitive LAPD police documents

Cybercriminals have reportedly infiltrated the Los Angeles Police Department, stealing and leaking sensitive internal documents online. The compromised data includes personal files of police officers, internal investigations, and legal discovery documents, which may contain unredacted criminal complaints and sensitive personal information such as witness identities and medical records. Emma Best, founder of the transparency organization Distributed Denial of Secrets, stated in a recent online update that the extortion group known as World Leaks is responsible for this significant data breach. Best claimed to have viewed some of the leaked information before it was removed from the gang’s leak site, where they publicize breaches to coerce victims into paying ransoms. It remains unclear why the data has been taken down from the World Leaks platform. In response to the breach, the LAPD has launched an investigation, clarifying that the incident did not involve their own systems or networks, but rather impacted a digital storage system owned by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. The LAPD is currently collaborating with the City Attorney’s Office to access the affected files and determine the full extent of the breach. According to The Los Angeles Times, California law generally classifies most police officer records as private, making this leak potentially one of the most significant breaches of police data in recent history, as such records are seldom disclosed. The breach has reportedly exposed approximately 7.7 terabytes of data, comprising over 337,000 files. As the investigation progresses, spokespeople for both the LAPD and the LA City Attorney's Office have yet to respond to inquiries from TechCrunch. Meanwhile, World Leaks, which emerged in January 2025 as a rebranding of the previous group Hunters International, has been linked to numerous cyberattacks across various sectors, including healthcare and technology. Cybersecurity experts from Halcyon have noted that this group has shown capabilities against high-profile defense contractors and Fortune 500 companies.