70 Million U.S. Prisoner Calls Breached

Someone leaked to the media the records of calls placed by inmates to at least 37 states and downloadable recordings of many calls. The material was taken from prison phoneservice provider Securus Technologies.

The calls span nearly two-and-a-half years, from December 2011 to the spring of 2014.

There appear to be at least 14,000 recorded conversations between inmates and attorneys.

“There's a real danger that hackers could use these bulk data records to compromise convicts and witnesses,” Engadget notes.

Securus suspects an insider dumped the contents online, not a hacker.

The company’s full response --

"Securus is contacting law enforcement agencies in the investigation into media reports that inmate call records were leaked online. Although this investigation is ongoing, we have seen no evidence that records were shared as a result of a technology breach or hack into our systems. Instead, at this preliminary stage, evidence suggests that an individual or individuals with authorized access to a limited set of records may have used that access to inappropriately share those records.

We will fully support law enforcement in prosecution of any individuals found to have illegally shared information in this case. Data security is critically important to the law enforcement and criminal justice organizations that we serve, and we implement extensive measures to help ensure that all data is protected from both digital and physical breaches.

It is very important to note that we have found absolutely no evidence of attorney-client calls that were recorded without the knowledge and consent of those parties. Our calling systems include multiple safeguards to prevent this from occurring. Attorneys are able to register their numbers to exempt them from the recording that is standard for other inmate calls. Those attorneys who did not register their numbers would also hear a warning about recording prior to the beginning of each call, requiring active acceptance.

We are coordinating with law enforcement and we will provide updates as this investigation progresses."