Europol Investigating Breach After Hacker Offers to Sell Classified Data

Europol Investigating Breach After Hacker Offers to Sell Classified Data

May 13, 2024 at 11:55AM

Europol is investigating a claim made by a hacker known as IntelBroker, who stated that he gained access to and sold classified data from the agency’s systems. The hacker provided screenshots to support his claims, and has also targeted cybersecurity firm Zscaler. While Europol confirmed the incident, they stated that no operational data has been compromised.

From the meeting notes, we can gather that Europol is currently investigating a potential data breach after a hacker known as IntelBroker claimed to have accessed and sold classified data from the law enforcement agency’s systems. The hacker allegedly obtained For Official Use Only (FOUO) and classified data, including employee information, source code, and documents from several projects within the Europol Platform for Experts (EPE). Europol has confirmed that the incident concerns a Europol Platform for Expert (EPE) closed user group, and that initial actions have been taken, including the EPE website being temporarily down for maintenance. However, they stated that no operational information is processed on the EPE application and that no core systems of Europol are affected.

Furthermore, the hacker has also claimed to have hacked cybersecurity firm Zscaler and offered to sell access to the company’s systems. Zscaler is conducting an investigation and has found a test environment exposed to the internet, but has not confirmed whether it was involved in the breach.

It’s worth noting that IntelBroker has a history of offering to sell data allegedly stolen from government organizations and high-profile companies, with some of the claims being false or exaggerated. Additionally, there have been other instances of data breaches and credentials being distributed on hacking forums, indicating a wider trend of cybersecurity threats.

Overall, it appears that the situation is still under investigation, with both Europol and Zscaler taking actions to address the potential breaches. It may be prudent for the organization to review its cybersecurity measures in light of these developments and to stay vigilant against potential threats.

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