D.C. police department hit by ransomware attack; 'Thousands' of confidential documents leaked

police tape
(Image credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Thousands of confidential documents from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department were leaked onto the dark web Thursday after a cyberattack from a "Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate," The Associated Press reports.

The leak includes "hundreds of police officer disciplinary files and intelligence reports," as well as "feeds from other agencies," like "the FBI and Secret Service," AP writes. It is, according to experts, "the worst known ransomware attack ever to hit a U.S. police department."

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Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.