One of the biggest data leaks in the history of the Belgian public service has occurred.
The Ragnar Locker ransomware gang recently released stolen data regarding many of the local Belgian police department's investigations, reports, and personnel details publicly, putting almost everyone involved at risk for a follow-up attack.
The gang was allegedly supposed to leak the data of the municipality the police department belonged to, per Bleeping Computer.
Zwijndrecht Police Hack Details
Zwijndrecht Police confirmed to local media through a post on Facebook that its data was stolen and published online, which includes numerous car number plates, fines, crime report files, personnel details, investigation reports, and more.
It even included pictures of children being abused.
These reports go way back into the past, with SecureBlink reporting that the leaked data revealed the records Zwijndrecht Police maintained from 2006 until September 2022.
According to a statement obtained by the VRT news network from Marc Snels, Chief of Police at Zwijndrecht, the data leak resulted from human error, and they are now contacting all individuals at risk to inform them of the incident and their predicament.
Snels said that the administrative network mainly contains the personal information of Zwijndrecht Police's staff, such as personnel lists and photos from personnel parties.
However, Snels did confirm that there is sensitive information on the compromised network sometimes, despite multiple attempts to put it only on the professional network. These attempts resulted in the same human error that led to the hackers obtaining the data they stole and eventually published online.
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A Facebook post from Zwijndrecht Police said that the hackers could only access data on the administrative network, compromising Zwijndrecht Police's personnel the most.
The data leak also puts people who reported crimes or abuse to the Zwijndrecht Police, as well as ongoing law enforcement operations and investigations, at risk.
The hackers, who are members of the Ragnar Locker ransomware gang, believed they had hacked and stolen data from the municipality of Zwijndrecht, as evidenced by its post on its website.
The post said that the data it stole came from the municipality of Zwijndrecht, but instead, it came from Zwijndrecht Police.
Belgian journalist Kenneth Dée, who revealed the hacking incident to the public through Het Laatste Nieuws, said that the gang capitalized on the Zwijndrecht Police's poorly secured Citrix endpoint to gain access to its network.
Possible Future Repercussions Of The Hack
Unfortunately, the Ragnar Locker ransomware gang's attack on the Zwijndrecht Police could be considered the largest law-enforcement leak in Belgium's history, according to Dée.
He also said that the hack should be a wake-up call to Belgium's local police on the way they handle citizens' data in the future.
The hack was large enough that Belgian lawyer and privacy activist Matthias Dobbelaere-Walvaert advised people affected by the data leak to change their license plates, identity cards, passports, and other important documents.
Regardless, the lawyer warned about the future consequences of the data leak due to identity theft, which could last for a lifetime even if affected people changed their important documents.
He also added that no smart camera should be on as long as not all local police network systems are protected.
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