Cyber Incident Victim: Miami-Dade Police Department
Date:
Jan 2016
Location:
United States of America
Summary
A hacker using the alias Lorde Bashtien leaked personal information of 80 officers from multiple law enforcement agencies, including Miami-Dade, claiming to have obtained the data from FBI servers rather than local systems. The individual, associated with the defunct CWA hacking group responsible for prior high-profile breaches of US officials, cited retaliation against police actions during a raid involving acquaintances as motivation. The exposed records were verified as authentic, continuing a pattern of sensitive government data compromises linked to CWA. Despite the severity of these incidents impacting officer safety, the perpetrator remained at large and publicly hinted at future data releases.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
In January 2016, a hacker using the alias Lorde Bashtien publicly released the personal information of 80 police officers affiliated with the Miami Police Department, Miami-Dade Police Department, and Miami Beach Police Department. The data breach was first reported by Vice, which had communicated with the hacker before his Twitter account was suspended. Lorde Bashtien claimed the compromised data originated from FBI servers rather than local law enforcement systems, though no technical details about the intrusion method were disclosed. The hacker had ties to the CWA (Crackas With Attitude) hacking group, which had previously executed high-profile breaches targeting senior US officials, including CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Deputy Director Mark Giuliano, and President Obama’s science advisor John Holdren. CWA had also infiltrated the Joint Automated Booking System (JABS), a federal platform for managing arrest records, and allegedly accessed a classified FBI portal. In November 2015, CWA leaked personal details of 2,400 US government employees, with Vice confirming the authenticity of that data.
Lorde Bashtien cited a personal vendetta as motivation, stemming from a 2015 police raid on a Miami rental property where his friends resided; the incident involved gunfire and allegedly targeted his associates. This admission suggested the hacker was likely a Miami resident. The doxing incident exposed sensitive officer information, raising immediate safety concerns for affected personnel. Despite CWA’s history of breaches impacting national security figures and systems, the FBI had not apprehended the group or Lorde Bashtien by the time of the Miami leak. Following his initial Twitter suspension, the hacker created a new account and threatened additional data releases, stating, "more leaks soon, stay tuned." No law enforcement statements, remediation efforts, or technical mitigations were documented in the available reports.