DATA BREACH AT ADVOCACY HEADQUARTERS
2970/10/04 04:44 UTC
ORISON, CRUSADER, STANTON SYSTEM- The UEE Advocacy reported a data breach at its headquarters in the Stanton System today. The breach apparently happened during the recent Xeno Threat attack in that system.
“We did experience a breach of some of our data systems, which we believe occurred during the time period of the Xeno Threat incursion,” said Lt. Jackson Sheridan, spokesperson for the Advocacy office in the Stanton System. When asked if he believed the breach was deliberately timed to coincide with the attack, Sheridan stated, “The incident is under investigation, so I can’t comment other than to confirm that it took place. And before you ask, I also cannot comment on what data was compromised or how our systems were breached.” Sheridan also declined to comment on who might be responsible for the breach. (Representatives from the security services of ArcCorp, Hurston Dynamics, and microTech declined to comment for this story.)
At least some of the data has already been leaked on Spectrum, however. Recently published files feature surveillance photos and notes on various sites around the Stanton System, including suspected drug production and distribution facilities, and locations suspected of disposing of bodies or other criminal evidence and fencing stolen ships and other goods.
Experts fear the publication of these files will alert criminals in the system to the efforts of Advocacy and other law enforcement organizations to uncover their illegal activities. This could drive them to new locations, effectively wiping out the efforts of law enforcement personnel. Naya Vincovic, Lead Investigator for Crusader Industries Security, says “It’s already hard enough for us to track some of these activities in-system, and now this data is available to anyone with a Spectrum account? Unbelievable. Some of this information compromises investigations that have been underway for months.” A source within Hurston Dynamics, who asked to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to speak to the public, put it more bluntly: “Either Advocacy here in Stanton has a mole, or they’re just incompetent. Either way, this incident isn’t going to help relations between them and us, or the other security services in Stanton.”
Multiple sources in Stanton agree that relations between Advocacy and local security forces are strained, at best. The Stanton system is somewhat unusual in that the UEE doesn’t directly govern the system: instead, the corporations ArcCorp, Crusader Industries, Hurston Dynamics and microTech each govern a planet in the system. As part of their charters, they’re each responsible for providing law enforcement services within their given areas of jurisdiction (typically a limited radius around their designated planets and moons). The Advocacy and the UEE military have jurisdiction throughout the rest of the system. Needless to say, this complicated arrangement results in numerous jurisdictional conflicts and promotes difficulties with communication between the different security services, among other issues. For just one example, drug enforcement responsibility is technically divided up amongst the different jurisdictions within the Stanton. But in recent years, Advocacy has moved to take over drug enforcement system-wide, citing a significant increase in production and distribution within the system and neighboring systems (Advocacy officials declined to comment on this).
An open question in the wake of this data breach is who it hurts more: law enforcement, or criminal organizations like Xeno Threat. The anonymous source in Hurston Dynamics believes it’s unlikely Xeno Threat themselves stole the data. “They have every reason to want to keep this stuff secret, especially the drug trade here and in the surrounding systems. They’re almost certainly involved in it, after all. How do you think they afford those frigates?” Terrorist groups often obtain funding through activities such as the drug trade or human trafficking, so this claim is certainly plausible. However, so little is known about Xeno Threat that it’s impossible at this point to speculate on their goals or motives. Could the leaked data be a cover for other, more important information stolen in the breach? Or did some unrelated group use the incursion for cover to steal the data?
For now the identities and motives of the persons involved in the breach remain unknown. What is known, however, is that someone was not only able to breach an Advocacy computer system and make off with classified data: they were also able to exploit a serious vulnerability in Advocacy’s Stanton System operations. The first major hostile incursion into the system resulted in Advocacy being unable to maintain its own internal security while also responding to an external threat, a serious problem considering Xeno Threat is far more powerful than previously thought, and Vanduul raids in UEE space are becoming more wide-ranging and aggressive.
Was Advocacy’s security simply inadequate, or were they spread too thin responding to Xeno Threat? Has their Stanton operation been infiltrated by criminal elements? For now, Advocacy has started an internal investigation. Terran Senator Mira Ngo (T) has called for the UEE Senate to appoint a special investigator into the incident and into Advocacy’s data security practices throughout the UEE, citing the danger of further such breaches. As of this writing no one else has supported her proposal.