Anonymous and LulzSec dump US police data

Operation Anti-Security had a busy weekend, releasing over 7GB of data stolen from 76 US law enforcement websites in 11 states.

The documents, containing personal information including credit card details, email addresses, social security numbers and informant data, were taken from sites mostly maintained by rural county sheriffs and hosted by a single firm.

The web site of the Arkansas-based hosting firm, Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing, which also maintained the domain names of many of the hacked web sites, was also down late Sunday evening.

The Anti-Sec campaign, initiated in June by the two prolific hacktivist groups Anonymous and LulzSec, claimed it first hacked the police sites a week ago.

In a statement, the Anonymous group said it hoped that this largest Anti-Sec data dump to date would reveal corruption and lead to criminal charges against several law officers.

It added: "We hopeit will also disrupt and sabotage their ability to communicate and terrorise communities."

Its statement has led to interpretations of the hack and data dump as retaliation for the ongoing police crackdown on its members and networks.

The international criminal investigation has already led to a number of arrests in the US and Europe, including nine in the UK.

Alleged LulzSec member known as "Topiary," Jake Davis, was released on bail last week after facing five charges related to computer hacking in Westminster Magistrate's court.

Elsewhere over the weekend, Anti-Sec hacktivists also reportedly released data on the Brazilian federal police and personal details on 45,000 Ecuadorian local police officers.

Security firm Sophos said the official website of the Syrian Ministry of Defence has also been defaced and the Minister of the Interior and Justice of Colombia's Twitter account was hacked, according to local news reports.