Hackers broke into a portion of Arizona’s Department of Public Safety’s network this past week, accessing emails and attachments from eight different officers. The group who has claimed responsibility says they hacked the files in protest of the state’s immigration law and that they will continue to release documents gained through their techniques in coming days. The Department is seeing this as a learning opportunity and a chance to strengthen their network.

Lulz Security, also called LulzSec, is a hacking group that’s claimed responsibility for the hack, as well as breaching Britain’s Serious Organized Crime Agency, and two Brazilian government websites. Investigators say tracking down the group will be difficult as their hacking skills have made it virtually impossible to trace them.

The emails that were hacked into belonged to eight different officers who worked in rural areas. DPS says these eight had not moved to a more updated email system, one that requires more complex passwords and frequent password resets. Obviously, they will soon be updated.

LulzSec has released some of the documents they obtained including emails, personal details about some officers, and other attachment documents.

“Hactivism” is a term used to describe hacking for political interest, as it seems this latest DPS hack was. Some hack, or break into secure computer networks, for profit or fun, but hactivism is committed to bring attention to something the hackers don’t feel is just within society. Encouraging each other online and giving out information via social networks, these hackers hope to give government agencies a major headache and possibly some embarrassment.

The LulzSec group broke both federal and Arizona state laws with their most recent attack. In Arizona the offense amounts to a Class 2 felony and carries 12.5 years in prison. Federally, it could bring 1 to 10 years. And while this seems appropriate, some are saying the latest hack could lead to lawmakers introducing harsher penalties for such offenses.

As is common when there is any high profile criminal offense, lawmakers jump in to promise tougher sanctions and protection of the public. While giving DPS some added finances to secure its aging system might not be a bad move, the House Speaker has already hinted at increasing penalties for hacking under state law.

The documents released thus far from the LulsSec cyber-attack are said to not be too sensitive. Because the group is only believed to have accessed the emails of these eight officers, the DPS says it is confident the larger servers were not compromised.

Whether you are accused of hacking or even computer fraud, a criminal defense attorney is your advocate within the system. Contact our offices today if you are facing criminal charges like these.

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When you’re booked into the Pinal County Jail, you won’t be only be providing fingerprints; you’ll now be subject to an iris scan. The county is the first in Arizona to implement the high tech iris-recognition technology and hopes it will help them track offenders both in and out of the jail.

The Inmate Recognition & Identification System (IRIS) will be used at the County Jail and will also be used on the county’s 700 registered sex offenders. Within the jail the system will ensure deputies don’t mistakenly release the wrong person (which occasionally happens with large populations, aliases, and people who frankly don’t want to be there).

But that isn’t where the use of the technology stops. Eventually, according to AZFamily.com, deputies would use their iPhones in the field to scan citizens, immediately retrieving their criminal history. It isn’t clear under what sort of circumstances the county believes they will be able to take iris scans in the field, though it seems they would only be constitutionally allowed as incident to arrest.

The database will take some time to build. Obviously, those people who have already cycled in and out of the jail won’t be in there. But beginning with jail intakes seems like a good place to start, since around 70% of offenders break the law again. Once populated, the IRIS database will make it impossible for offenders who are in the system to successfully use aliases to avoid arrest.

Pinal County isn’t alone, though they are the first in the state. Forty-six other states have the technology in place too, which means the information inputted here will be shared across state lines. The goal is to have the IRIS database be a complete nationwide repository, similar to the fingerprint database of the FBI.

You can be sure, whether you are arrested in Pinal County or another jurisdiction, even if the IRIS technology isn’t in place that you will be catalogued and watched. It’s hard to live down an arrest and even harder to live down a criminal conviction. Such things follow you for years.

If you are facing criminal charges, the best way to avoid this stigma is to avoid a conviction altogether. Contact my offices today for a consultation on your criminal case and to discuss your available options.

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Very long and interesting article in the Tuscon Citizen about the unitended consequenses of the 2007 law that heavily penalized employers who hired illegal immigrants. The net result is a booming cash economy for these workers, and ultimately less tax revenue and workplace oversight by the state and federal governments.

The 2007 law that increased employer sanctions for worker immigration status likely did reduce the amount of identity theft and criminal impersonation charges statewide. Prior to that it was widely believed that many employers looked the other way, or merely didn’t dig very hard when workers presented questionable social security cards or other documentation for employment.

But at least with fake or borrowed social security numbers, payroll taxes are deducted and paid. Not so with the underground economy of cash laborers or underground sales that now take place.

No one really believes that these displaced illegal workers actually left the country. They just started doing more underground work that is harder to track, regulate, and lives in the shadows of the regular economy.

Politicians, policy advocates and citizens alike will have to decide for themselves whether this is really an improvement of the situation, or solves any real problem with the immigration mess in Arizona and nationwide.

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Charged with a crime in Arizona? Free defense consultation on any criminal arrest or case, in any Arizona criminal court.

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