Hacking collective Anonymous has gone after a new victim. On Monday, May 2nd, the group released 82GB of data belonging to the Nauru Police Force, an Australian offshore police group. The country of Nauru is used by Australia to house refugees in the island’s jail while Australia gives them aid in return. It’s likely Anonymous came after the group because they claim the emails they acquired prove that refugees that are being brought to the country face abuse. Anonymous is demanding that reparations are paid to those that are suffering and that an investigation is launched as soon as possible. A statement from the group can be read below:
“So, we decided to hack the Nauru Police Force, who were tasked by the Australian government with policing the island and obtained 285,635 confidential emails related to abuses that they tried to cover up, and we are making them all public. The Republic of Nauru has previously disputed reports of torture, sexual assault, and child abuse on the island. Can they still dispute this when all their emails are out in the open? The things we saw and read made us sick. We are asking the newly elected Australian government to by the end of 2022:
~ End the policy of mandatory immigration detention and permanently close immigration detention facilities, including on the island Nauru.
~ Grant permanent residence to all asylum seekers, including the 124 people forcibly moved out from Manus Island.
~ Investigate all allegations of abuse in the immigration detention centres and pay lifetime repairations to victims.
Anonymous!”
Analyst Notes
Anonymous has been on a roll in the past few months. Government entities should take proactive measures to prevent attacks from happening regardless of their status. Ensuring endpoints are protected, having well trained staff, regularly updating software, and creating offline backups of important data are just some of the many steps companies can take to lessen the likelihood of attacks occurring. If the allegations and content of the emails Anonymous has released are true, this could prove to be a much larger issue.
Anonymous Leak 82GB of Police Emails Against Australia’s Offshore Detention
