• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Editor’s Picks
    • The power of teamwork
      Stay awake and alert on the job
      The worst rank in law enforcement
      Firearms maintenance
      Why fries need salt
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • Time to address the status of women in policing today
        Police K-9 comforts Michigan State University students returning to...
        Volkswagen acknowledges policy breach after failing to provide...
        Michigan lieutenant completes DoorDash delivery for pregnant driver...
        South Carolina woman diagnosed with brain tumor thanks to traffic stop
    • Labor
      • LAPD union proposes police stop responding to non-emergency calls
        Florida’s recruitment program lures Chicago police officers to the...
        Staffing shortages plague Cleveland police as record number leave the...
        New Orleans interim police chief aims to hire civilians in time for...
        “Anyone can get this job”: Memphis police lowered hiring...
    • Tech
      • One of country’s oldest cold cases solved with DNA from untested...
        Crypto crime investigations
        Austin Police Department launches non-emergency artificial...
        iPhone crash detection feature helps deputies rescue driver from canal
        Nebraska State Patrol uses drone technology to improve traffic flow...
    • Training
      • Avoiding conflict and escalation
        U.S. trails in police training
        Denver police recruit has leg amputated after training drill
        Defunding vs. refunding public services
        Apathy is not the problem — leadership is
    • Policy
      • Utah bill aims to regulate how law enforcement uses genetic genealogy...
        Opposing POVs on permit-less carry
        Ohio bill would lower minimum age to become a police officer to 18 to...
        Utah bill would allow people with “invisible conditions” to alert...
        Speaking up for K-9 colleagues
    • Health/Wellness
      • Nonprofit offers telehealth therapy to upstate New York first...
        A California police department’s new wellness unit aims to improve...
        Massachusetts police department prioritizes officers’ mental health...
        My poor coping strategies
        Heart health
    • Community
      • Central Texas nonprofit to open law enforcement museum in honor of...
        “It was an honor to serve with her”: Kansas first responders...
        Chicago police cook with children to build community relationships
        Wisconsin teen fighting brain cancer becomes police officer for a day
        Texas law enforcement agencies team up to fight cancer
    • Offbeat
      • Not UFOs: Police departments across the country receive 9-1-1 calls...
        Texas deputy detains runaway tortoise after “slowest foot...
        Suspect hiding in bathtub in Florida calls 9-1-1 to send deputies to...
        Person in ‘Scream’ costume frightens California community,...
        “Brave and honest” toddler rats out fugitive hiding in Kentucky...
    • We Remember
      • Boone County holds fifth annual Jacob Pickett Remembrance Day to...
        Farewell to a “living legend”: Oldest law enforcement officer in...
        “Officer Becerra will never be forgotten”: Colorado police...
        “I had a calling”: Colorado cadet inspired by fallen hero Eric...
        Chicago police remember fallen and injured officers this holiday...
  • On the Job
    • Time to address the status of women in policing today
      Police K-9 comforts Michigan State University students returning to...
      Volkswagen acknowledges policy breach after failing to provide...
      Michigan lieutenant completes DoorDash delivery for pregnant driver...
      South Carolina woman diagnosed with brain tumor thanks to traffic stop
  • Labor
    • LAPD union proposes police stop responding to non-emergency calls
      Florida’s recruitment program lures Chicago police officers to the...
      Staffing shortages plague Cleveland police as record number leave the...
      New Orleans interim police chief aims to hire civilians in time for...
      “Anyone can get this job”: Memphis police lowered hiring...
  • Tech
    • One of country’s oldest cold cases solved with DNA from untested...
      Crypto crime investigations
      Austin Police Department launches non-emergency artificial...
      iPhone crash detection feature helps deputies rescue driver from canal
      Nebraska State Patrol uses drone technology to improve traffic flow...
  • Training
    • Avoiding conflict and escalation
      U.S. trails in police training
      Denver police recruit has leg amputated after training drill
      Defunding vs. refunding public services
      Apathy is not the problem — leadership is
  • Policy
    • Utah bill aims to regulate how law enforcement uses genetic genealogy...
      Opposing POVs on permit-less carry
      Ohio bill would lower minimum age to become a police officer to 18 to...
      Utah bill would allow people with “invisible conditions” to alert...
      Speaking up for K-9 colleagues
  • Health/Wellness
    • Nonprofit offers telehealth therapy to upstate New York first...
      A California police department’s new wellness unit aims to improve...
      Massachusetts police department prioritizes officers’ mental health...
      My poor coping strategies
      Heart health
  • Community
    • Central Texas nonprofit to open law enforcement museum in honor of...
      “It was an honor to serve with her”: Kansas first responders...
      Chicago police cook with children to build community relationships
      Wisconsin teen fighting brain cancer becomes police officer for a day
      Texas law enforcement agencies team up to fight cancer
  • Offbeat
    • Not UFOs: Police departments across the country receive 9-1-1 calls...
      Texas deputy detains runaway tortoise after “slowest foot...
      Suspect hiding in bathtub in Florida calls 9-1-1 to send deputies to...
      Person in ‘Scream’ costume frightens California community,...
      “Brave and honest” toddler rats out fugitive hiding in Kentucky...
  • We Remember
    • Boone County holds fifth annual Jacob Pickett Remembrance Day to...
      Farewell to a “living legend”: Oldest law enforcement officer in...
      “Officer Becerra will never be forgotten”: Colorado police...
      “I had a calling”: Colorado cadet inspired by fallen hero Eric...
      Chicago police remember fallen and injured officers this holiday...
  • Between the Lines
    • The imprisonment of law enforcement technology
      Persecution of the LEO is classic schadenfreude
      The rule of law is worthless without order
      School policing: a paradox of the defund movement
      Defending the honor of the LE profession – finally!
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

Tech

Security flaw in app exposes secret data from hundreds of police raids

APB Team Published January 27, 2023 @ 6:00 am PST

Dreamstime.com/Lukas Gojda

An app used by police agencies to coordinate raids on suspects was recently discovered to contain a serious security flaw that may have exposed sensitive data from hundreds of police raids dating back to 2011.

According to experts, a technical misconfiguration in an app called SweepWizard revealed the location and names of 5,770 suspects, as well as personally identifiable information and even the Social Security numbers of some suspects.

The app, which is used by law enforcement agencies to manage multi-agency raid operations, also left vulnerable the identities of officers in the operations and their email addresses and phone numbers, as well information about the timing of raids and pre-raid briefings.

Although the SweepWizard mobile app first launched in 2016, its website has been around for even longer, and data was discovered from sweeps as far back as 2011.

Most recently, the LAPD used a free trial of SweepWizard to help coordinate a series of raids carried out by 64 Southern California agencies to arrest 600 sex offenders in a massive operation called Operation Protect the Innocent. It was this mission that brought attention to the security flaw in the app.

“Operational security is always paramount to us. We don’t want people to know when and if we are coming,” Captain Jeffery Bratcher, who leads the regional Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the LAPD Juvenile Division, told Wired.

In a follow-up statement, the LAPD said it had suspended use of the app and was working to address the issue.

“The department is working with federal law enforcement to determine the source of the unauthorized release of information, which is currently unclear. At this point in the investigation, it has not been determined if the third-party application or another means is the source of the unauthorized release,” said Captain Kelly Muniz of the LAPD’s Media Relations Division.

Experts said the security problem lay in the app’s API. By plugging a specific SweepWizard URL into a web browser, anyone could access private data in the app regardless of whether they were logged in.

“They left the front, side, and back doors open,” independent privacy and security researcher Zach Edwards said. 

Ken Munro, founder of the U.K.-based security research firm Pen Test Partners, said the error was due to a simple authorization issue.

“This is a bit of a basic technical oversight,” he said. “These sorts of authorization issues are not often seen in law enforcement.”

ODIN Intelligence, the company that created the app, did not answer questions about when the data may first have been publicly accessible.

“ODIN Intelligence Inc. takes security very seriously.  We have and are thoroughly investigating these claims,” company CEO and founder Erik McCauley said in a statement. “Thus far, we have been unable to reproduce the alleged security compromise to any ODIN system. In the event that any evidence of a compromise of ODIN or SweepWizard security has occurred, we will take appropriate action.”

Shortly after news regarding SweepWizard broke, the company’s website was hacked, defaced and taken offline. The unknown hackers leaving a note saying that they “shredded” 16 GB of backups and data, apparently in response to the news of the security flaw. They leaked a huge cache of data — not only the company’s source code and internal database but also thousands of law enforcement files, including detailed tactical plans for upcoming police raids and confidential police reports with descriptions of alleged crimes and suspects, according to TechCrunch.

According to the company’s website, ODIN Intelligence develops high-tech solutions for law enforcement that “enable our communities to be safer, better informed, more organized, and crime free.” The company says its products (among them a controversial software that uses facial recognition software to identify and track the homeless) adhere to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) security policy regarding the handling of sensitive information.

The FBI did not comment on this claim.

Categories: Tech Tags: leak, police raids, security flaw, SweepWizard, social security number, ODIN Intelligence, LAPD, personally identifiable information, data, app

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • One of country’s oldest cold cases solved with DNA from untested sexual assault kit
  • Avoiding conflict and escalation
  • Utah bill aims to regulate how law enforcement uses genetic genealogy data
  • Not UFOs: Police departments across the country receive 9-1-1 calls about planetary phenomenon
  • Crypto crime investigations
  • Central Texas nonprofit to open law enforcement museum in honor of police officers and to educate the public
  • Texas deputy detains runaway tortoise after “slowest foot pursuit” ever
  • Time to address the status of women in policing today
  • Police K-9 comforts Michigan State University students returning to class after campus mass shooting
  • Volkswagen acknowledges policy breach after failing to provide Illinois sheriff’s office with GPS location of car carrying abducted toddler

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

The power of teamwork

The power of teamwork

July 23, 2021

Stay awake and alert on the job

Stay awake and alert on the job

July 20, 2021

The worst rank in law enforcement

The worst rank in law enforcement

July 19, 2021

Firearms maintenance

Firearms maintenance

July 04, 2021

Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2023 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.