Nothing is hack-proof, for two reasons: first, all data is in plain text somewhere or else it’s of no use to humans; second, humans. This was recently proved at the 70th Police Precinct in Brooklyn, where someone appears to have been stealing traffic violation data in order to get referral kickbacks from local law firms and other businesses.
The hacker, an auxiliary police officer gone rogue, seems to have set up a camera inside the precinct in order to verify remotely that no one was looking as he accessed the database. While the camera was installed in order to guarantee no one would catch him, it appears have also been scheme’s undoing.
The accused is Yehuda Katz. More from the Daily News:
Prosecutors did not spell out how Katz profited from the scheme, but numerous calls on his cellphone were associated with medical clinics, law firms and chiropractors, suggesting he was getting kickbacks for referrals.
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said Katz accessed personal information of thousands of citizens “to enrich himself through fraud.”
The surveillance camera had the capability to broadcast a live image of the office to the Internet. Investigators suspect Katz would activate the device from a remote location to make sure no one was using the computer so he could log into the database.
Katz has been released on bail and has resigned as an auxiliary officer, according to the story.
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