Police secrets leaked by computer virus
Experts at Sophos have reminded Internet users of the importance of computer security after media reports revealed that sensitive police information has been leaked onto the Internet from a virus-infected computer.
According to the Japanese press, information about 1,500 individuals, related to police investigations over a three years, was leaked from a virus-infected computer belonging to an Okayama Police investigator. The data is said to have been distributed to users of the Winny peer-to-peer file-sharing system. Winny is the most popular file-sharing network in Japan, with over a quarter of a million users.
According to the report, the leak occurred because the policeman was storing data about investigations on his personal computer. The PC was infected with an unnamed computer virus which is said to have enabled Winny users across Japan to access the sensitive information. The exposed data included the names of sex crime victims.
