Hackers Strike Again, Release Personal Information about BART Officers

BART Deputy Police Chief Ben Farrow condemned a cyber attack Wednesday in which hackers broke into the website of the union that represents the transit agency's officers and released personal information on 102 officers.

The information includes the officers' names, their home addresses, their e-mail addresses, and passwords for the website. The cyber attack, which was discovered Wednesday, is the second to hit BART in the past week.

On Sunday, BART said a website for its passengers called MyBart.org had been hacked and that the names, addresses and passwords of more than 2,400 users was released. A hacker group called "Anonymous" took credit for the attack and posted links to the stolen data on its Twitter account. The group said the attack was in retaliation for BART's decision to temporarily shut down underground cellphone and wireless service at four stations in San Francisco last Thursday in anticipation of an anti-police protest there. Farrow said the websites for MyBart.org and the police union are both run by outside vendors, not by BART.

Farrow said BART police officers are concerned that the information that has been released could jeopardize the safety of their family members.

"BART police officers are used to working in dangerous situations, but they aren't used to having their family members exposed to danger," he said. Officers "are naturally unhappy about it," Farrow said.

Farrow said the cyber attacks seem to be part of "an ongoing attack on everyone" at BART and "are getting silly at this point." Farrow said he thinks the cyber attacks are being carried out "in a cowardly manner" and people who are upset with BART's decision to temporarily suspend cellphone service should speak out at BART board meetings. Cyber attacks "are absolutely the wrong way" to protest BART's policies, he said.

Farrow said the FBI is already investigating the cyber attack on the MyBART.org website and will now expand its investigation to include the breach of the police union's website.

BART spokesman Jim Allison said the transit agency has sent information to its employees about how to protect themselves from cyber attacks.

- Bay City News