Europol is launching an investigation following the announcement by a black hat hacker offering to sell classified data allegedly stolen from Europol systems.
On May 10, the hacker known as IntelBroker declared that he had gained access to Europol systems and had stolen classified, For Official Use Only (FOUO) data. This classified data includes personal employee information, source code, and guiding protocol documents. The hacker claimed to have gathered this information by infiltrating several Europol agencies. However, the “agencies” accessed by the hacker are actually information-sharing projects. These projects are housed under the Europol Platform for Experts (EPE). This platform is for the sharing of knowledge, crime data, and best practices. To prove his hacking success, IntelBroker posted screenshots of his access to the EPE platform, confidential presentations, and sensitive emails obtained. On May 11, the hacker followed up with his post, announcing that the stolen data was sold. Europol law enforcement announced an investigation into the hack is active. Additionally, a Europol spokesperson announced that “No core systems of Europol are affected… no operational data from Europol has been compromised”.
Read more: