A group calling itself the Internet Yiff Machine has released 93 gigabytes of data purportedly stolen from P3 Global Intel, a platform used by Crime Stoppers programs and law enforcement for managing anonymous crime tips. The data, containing sensitive personal information on millions of tips, was sent to Straight Arrow News and the Distributed Denial of Secrets archive. Navigate360, which owns P3, has not confirmed the breach but hired a digital forensics firm to investigate.
P3 Global Intel markets itself as a leading tool for tip management among Crime Stoppers programs, law enforcement agencies, and government bodies worldwide. The platform handles highly sensitive public tips on crimes, promising full anonymity to users, and facilitates follow-up conversations between tipsters and investigators. Many tips involve life-endangering details, such as gang activity, weapon locations, and abuse of victims, with fields for specifics like scars, tattoos, and drug sales methods. Over 35,000 schools also rely on it for reports of suicide threats, bullying, and drugs—the top categories of school tips, according to P3 data. Earlier this month, the hackers known as Internet Yiff Machine claimed to have exfiltrated the entire database by sending over 8 million requests without encountering rate-limiting or other security measures. Their release note described 8.3 million tips and expressed an anti-police stance, declaring that cops follow orders from billionaires, politicians, and corporations, while urging to 'fight the fascists' and hack police, government, and corporations. The archive includes extensive personal details on individuals accused in tips: names, email addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, home addresses, license plate numbers, Social Security numbers, and criminal histories, along with investigator replies. Distributed Denial of Secrets is withholding public release due to sensitivity, offering access only to established journalists and researchers. Navigate360 told Straight Arrow News it engaged a digital forensics company but provided no further update. Some agencies reacted swiftly; Portland, Oregon, police announced on March 19 that community members should temporarily avoid submitting tips through Crime Stoppers 'out of an abundance of caution.' A test of P3's web interface revealed a misdirection from a Philadelphia fusion center page to Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers, raising questions about system reliability.
