The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) suffered a “major incident” this week when its computer system was breached. Qilin, a Russian cyber gang that targets major entities for digital attacks, claimed responsibility.
The agency, which holds records of millions of American gun owners, said that the affected system was “stand-alone” and quickly isolated. Senior Department of Justice (DOJ) officials deemed it a serious threat.
ATF: potential damage was contained to one area
“Upon discovery of the incident, ATF immediately terminated connections to the affected environment and initiated incident-response and forensic activities,” the agency that oversees and regulates Second Amendment-related activities said. “ATF is coordinating closely with the Department of Justice to investigate.”
Officials did not reveal suspects, but Cybernews reported that Qilin claimed on its dark web site that it hit the ATF and five business and industrial targets.
Gun Owners of America posted on X that it is unknown if gun owner data was accessed, “but @ATFHQ maintains a registry of more than 1 billion guns and gun owners.”
A 1-billion-entry ATF registry?
This was not the first time gun owners were targeted by hackers
California concealed carry permit applicants’ personal data from 10 years was exposed in 2022. The breach included names, driver’s license numbers, identifying details, and criminal histories.
The DOJ also announced Wednesday that it seized two hacking outfits, QScan and QTRouter, based in China and operated by a government group, that target U.S. federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve, NASA, the DOJ, and others.
While ATF officials initially said the breach was contained to an isolated area, they must be transparent and reveal what type of data Russian criminals grabbed, if any.
This incident is just one of several good reasons why Second Amendment advocates balk at such record-keeping involving the right to keep and bear arms.
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