In an effort to spread information, associates of Anonymous targeted the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics’ website on Monday, compromising nearly 2GB of data before the server was taken offline.
The 1.7GBs worth of stolen data was compressed into a single file and uploaded to Pirate Bay. The Torrent’s information page explains that Anonymous is releasing the data in order to “spread information, to allow the people to be heard and to know the corruption in their government.”
The information page goes on to talk about oppression and corruption, while encouraging others to join Anonymous in their fight for “against these corporate hypocrites.”
The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics is the data analysis and collection arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. The agency is commonly cited by policy makers who use their research on crime, criminal offenders, and various justice systems to shape law. Most of their research and compiled data is open to the public.
Commenting on the breach, the agency would only confirm that it happened and that they’re launching an investigation.
“The department is looking into the unauthorized access of a website server operated by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that contained data from their public website,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“The Bureau of Justice Statistics website has remained operational throughout this time. The department’s main website, justice.gov, was not affected.”