35:
28:
124:, the United States government sought to improve communication between different levels of law enforcement to better discover and prevent terrorist attacks. They encouraged state and local governments to create fusion centers: physical locations where representatives of different law enforcement agencies share and collectively analyze intelligence before distributing reports back to their respective agencies. Fusion centers have since begun working with private
231:
Surveys from law enforcement training programs reveal that some instructors were prejudiced and unprofessional. Classes taught biased, outdated, and incorrect content. Some contain sexual content unrelated to the class, and there was one report of an instructor admitting to lying in court frequently.
246:
and other agencies. Officials discussed cyber attacks from Iran and concerns about further attacks in early 2020. Another report discusses possible
Chinese espionage at natural gas facilities. Homeland Security also discussed Russian interference with American elections, attempts to hack the 2020
239:, legislators took interest in BlueLeaks thanks to details about the Maine Information and Analysis Center, which is under investigation. The leaks showed the fusion center was spying on and keeping records on people who had been legally protesting or had been "suspicious" but committed no crime.
184:
The BlueLeaks collection includes internal memos, financial records, and more from over 200 state, local, and federal agencies. More than one million documents were leaked from law enforcement fusion centers. In leaked documents, officers track individual, group, and event pages with protest or
135:
found that over the 13 months of review, fusion centers did not contribute to the identification or prevention of a terrorist plot, and that of the 386 unclassified fusion center reports it reviewed, three-quarters had no connection to terrorism at all. In 2008, the
148:
report points to a report issued by an
Illinois fusion center in 2011. The report wrongly claimed that Russian hackers were to blame for a broken water pump, and despite the Department of Homeland Security publicly stating the report was false, its
265:'s "CyberCrime Investigation Group" (CIG). The group focused on voluntarily forwarding detailed information of Google, YouTube, and Gmail users, among other products, to members of the Northern California Regional Intelligence, a counter-terrorist
200:
During the George Floyd protests, law enforcement agencies monitored protesters' communications over social media and messaging apps. Reports leaked found that the police were aware of the potential for their surveillance to violate the
42:
288:
Shortly after the leaks were released, on June 23, Twitter permanently banned DDoSecrets's
Twitter account for distributing hacked materials. Twitter also censored all links to the DDoSecrets website.
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German authorities seized a server used by DDoSecrets at the request of U.S. authorities. The server had hosted the BlueLeaks files, but the documents remained available for download through
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416:
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The data — internal intelligence, bulletins, emails, and reports — was produced between August 1996 and June 2020 by more than 200 law enforcement agencies, which provided it to
442:
473:
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phone. In some cases, the company did not ban the users they reported to the authorities, and some were said to still have accounts on YouTube, Gmail, and other services.
276:
One way Google identified its users in order to report them to law enforcement was by cross-referencing different Gmail accounts, which eventually led them to a single
140:
identified a number of privacy-related concerns created by fusion centers. The department noted that the excessive secrecy of fusion centers led to comparisons with
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883:
764:
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208:
The documents also show a much broader trend of surveillance. They show details about the data that police can obtain from social media sites including
164:
and other instances of police violence in 2020, law enforcement in the United States came under renewed scrutiny. In early June, the hacker collective
273:. The company has also been said to report users who appeared to be in mental distress, indicating suicidal thoughts or intent to commit self-harm.
205:. They distributed documents to police filled with rumors and warnings that the protests would become violent, sparking fear among police officers.
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anti-law enforcement rhetoric. Some of the documents contain material related to the attitudes of law enforcement and their response to the
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shortly after for "dissemination of hacked materials" and "information that could have put individuals at risk of real-world harm."
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150:
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announced its intent to expose police misconduct. The collective did high-profile hacks in the 2000s and early 2010s. In 2011,
83:. It was obtained through a security breach of Netsential, a web developer that works with fusion centers and law enforcement.
1138:
563:
992:
131:
Fusion centers have been criticized as privacy-invading, ineffective, and targeted at political groups. In 2012, the Senate
34:
65:
703:
100:
reported that
Distributed Denial of Secrets attempted to remove sensitive information from the data before publication.
101:
1199:
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875:
757:"Law Enforcement Scoured Protester Communications and Exaggerated Threats to Minneapolis Cops, Leaked Documents Show"
1184:
309:
756:
137:
1139:"How 'Keyser Söze' leaked a secret trove of police documents that exposed cops tracking George Floyd protesters"
104:(NFCA) officials confirmed the authenticity of the data, according to documents obtained by security journalist
228:, among others. Fusion centers also collect and distribute detailed data from automatic license plate readers.
312:
has questioned at least one person, seeking information about BlueLeaks, DDoSecrets, and one of its founders,
1209:
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banned r/BlueLeaks, a community created to discuss BlueLeaks, claiming they had posted personal information.
73:
1018:"Twitter has permanently banned the group that published the 'BlueLeaks' police files obtained by hackers"
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501:
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269:, for content threatening violence or otherwise expressing extremist views, often associated with the
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requests filed about BlueLeaks and DDoSecrets were rejected due to an ongoing federal investigation.
144:, and that fusion center reports sometimes distribute inaccurate or incomplete information. The 2012
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protestors, but the collective had few significant operations within the United States since then.
108:; the organization warned its members that hackers may use the leaked information to target them.
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341: – 2010 disclosure of a collection of internal U.S. military logs of the War in Afghanistan
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Documents also contain reports about other countries from the
Department of Homeland Security,
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907:"Exclusive: Did Chinese Agents Try To Stake Out American Natural Gas Plants With Drones?"
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439:"'BlueLeaks' Exposes Files from Hundreds of Police Departments — Krebs on Security"
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86:
The leaks were released at hunter.ddosecrets.com and announced on the @DDoSecrets
383:
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54:
819:"'This is a time bomb'—Leaked docs reveal homophobic, racist police instructors"
993:"Google reportedly sent identifying info of extremist users to law enforcement"
695:
409:"Inside "Blue Leaks," a trove of hacked police documents released by Anonymous"
365:
788:"Document Unmasks Fusion Center's Participation in License Plate Surveillance"
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172:, a subgroup of Anonymous, released law enforcement information in support of
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1080:"Hack of 251 Law Enforcement Websites Exposes Personal Data of 700,000 Cops"
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967:"Google giving far-right users' data to law enforcement, documents reveal"
1108:"ICE Questions an Admin of The-Eye Archive Site That Hosted 'Blue Leaks'"
125:
105:
850:"Lawmakers call to defund Maine's secretive police intelligence agency"
726:"Yes, the police are watching what you post on Facebook about protests"
359:
292:
141:
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61:
933:"Homeland Security prepared for Russian interference in 2020 Census"
116:
The Blue Leaks data comes largely from the intelligence gathered by
466:"Twitter bans DDoSecrets account over 'BlueLeaks' police data dump"
209:
657:"DHS Issued False 'Water Pump Hack' Report; Called It a 'Success'"
213:
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There is a federal investigation relating to BlueLeaks. Various
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described BlueLeaks as the law enforcement equivalent to the
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502:"Anonymous Stole and Leaked a Megatrove of Police Documents"
374: – Largest disclosure in United States military history
386: – 2017 documents leak related to offshore investment
261:
revealed, based on the leaked documents, the existence of
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1049:"Germany seizes server hosting pilfered US police files"
362: – Computer-based activities as a means of protest
343:
Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
876:"BlueLeaks: US Law Enforcement feared Iranian hackers"
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247:
census, and manipulation of social media discussion.
72:
and released on June 19, 2020, by the activist group
45:
Protestor wearing Guy Fawkes mask in front of police
755:Hvistendahl, Mara; Brown, Alleen (June 26, 2020).
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1106:Franceschi-Bicchierai, Lorenzo (July 20, 2020).
754:
495:
493:
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696:"The return of the Anonymous hacker collective"
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368: – American political activist and hacker
350: – Use of digital attacks against a state
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356: – A form of nonviolent online protest
1205:George Floyd protests in the United States
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33:
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694:Molloy, David; Tidy, Joe (June 1, 2020).
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133:Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
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251:Google's CyberCrime Investigation Group
68:data obtained by the hacker collective
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604:from the original on November 12, 2019
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1215:June 2020 events in the United States
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541:"The Murky World of 'Fusion Centres'"
153:included the claims in its report to
1180:Law enforcement in the United States
441:. Krebs on Security. June 22, 2020.
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636:from the original on March 29, 2020
151:Office of Intelligence and Analysis
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1175:Data breaches in the United States
1118:from the original on July 20, 2020
943:from the original on July 11, 2020
829:from the original on July 10, 2020
817:Hagerty, Colleen (July 10, 2020).
767:from the original on June 27, 2020
736:from the original on July 13, 2020
675:from the original on June 24, 2020
569:from the original on July 11, 2019
520:from the original on June 23, 2020
476:from the original on June 24, 2020
464:Cimpanu, Catalin (June 23, 2020).
445:from the original on June 22, 2020
419:from the original on June 23, 2020
380: – 2016 document leak scandal
102:National Fusion Center Association
14:
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1059:from the original on July 9, 2020
1028:from the original on July 9, 2020
991:Low, Cherlynn (August 17, 2020).
965:Wilson, Jason (August 17, 2020).
886:from the original on July 9, 2020
798:from the original on July 6, 2020
706:from the original on June 4, 2020
500:Greenberg, Andy (June 22, 2020).
931:Slapinski, Mark (July 6, 2020).
874:Slapinski, Mark (July 1, 2020).
786:Maharrey, Mike (June 27, 2020).
407:Karlis, Nicole (June 22, 2020).
310:Homeland Security Investigations
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655:Zetter, Kim (October 3, 2012).
138:Department of Homeland Security
53:, sometimes referred to by the
16:Data leak of US law enforcement
848:Neumann, Dan (June 30, 2020).
687:
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128:with little public oversight.
1:
1195:Distributed Denial of Secrets
1047:Bajak, Frank (July 9, 2020).
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354:Electronic civil disobedience
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74:Distributed Denial of Secrets
1078:Lee, Micah (July 15, 2020).
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1024:(in Dutch). June 24, 2020.
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187:Black Lives Matter movement
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1022:Business Insider Nederland
306:Freedom of Information Act
560:10.1080/09627250802699715
339:Afghan War documents leak
1200:Anonymous (hacker group)
548:Criminal Justice Matters
244:U.S. Department of State
1185:United States documents
372:Iraq War documents leak
792:Tenth Amendment Center
162:murder of George Floyd
911:The National Interest
191:George Floyd protests
1210:Hacking in the 2020s
1190:Classified documents
539:Monahan, T. (2009).
295:and other websites.
122:September 11 attacks
66:U.S. law enforcement
60:, refers to 269.21
174:Occupy Wall Street
92:account was banned
732:. June 29, 2020.
195:COVID-19 pandemic
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624:"DHS report"
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554:(1): 20–21.
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120:. After the
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64:of internal
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1091:October 13,
106:Brian Krebs
1170:News leaks
1164:Categories
391:References
360:Hacktivism
293:BitTorrent
160:After the
142:COINTELPRO
112:Background
58:#BlueLeaks
669:1059-1028
514:1059-1028
314:Emma Best
271:far right
166:Anonymous
70:Anonymous
62:gibibytes
51:BlueLeaks
1122:July 20,
1116:Archived
1063:July 11,
1057:Archived
1026:Archived
997:Engadget
947:July 11,
941:Archived
916:July 11,
890:July 11,
884:Archived
859:July 11,
833:July 11,
827:Archived
802:July 11,
796:Archived
771:June 28,
765:Archived
734:Archived
710:June 24,
704:Archived
700:BBC News
679:June 24,
673:Archived
640:June 24,
631:Archived
608:June 24,
599:Archived
573:June 24,
564:Archived
524:June 24,
518:Archived
480:June 24,
474:Archived
449:June 22,
443:Archived
423:June 24,
417:Archived
333:See also
284:Response
210:Facebook
180:Findings
155:Congress
1032:July 9,
740:July 9,
278:Android
214:Twitter
170:Antisec
88:Twitter
854:Beacon
667:
512:
299:Reddit
263:Google
226:Tumblr
222:Reddit
218:TikTok
193:, and
146:Senate
661:Wired
634:(PDF)
627:(PDF)
602:(PDF)
595:(PDF)
567:(PDF)
544:(PDF)
506:Wired
470:ZDNet
413:Salon
237:Maine
97:Wired
1150:2021
1124:2020
1112:Vice
1093:2021
1065:2020
1034:2020
1004:2020
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681:2020
665:ISSN
642:2020
610:2020
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510:ISSN
482:2020
451:2020
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224:and
556:doi
235:In
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