Who Is Behind The Planned Parenthood Hack?

The Department of Justice and the FBI have been called in to investigate an anti-abortion hacktivist group called 3301, who allegedly hacked Planned Parenthood databases on Sunday night, according to The Daily Dot. The hack was motivated by the recent videos that surfaced of Planned Parenthood officials bluntly discussing tissue donation programs, and the ensuing allegations that the organization sells fetal tissue. The aftermath of the video has spurred severe backlash against the organization that has become synonymous with women's health.

The group that is taking responsibility for the hack claims to have obtained information from Planned Parenthood's database, in addition to employee names and email addresses. One of the hackers, who identified only as "E," told the Daily Dot that the group plans to release decrypted emails "soon." They have already released names and email addresses of employees.

One member of 3301 named Jansson told Mic that the group also obtained personal information about women who received abortions through Planned Parenthood, in addition to the social security number of Cecile Richards, the CEO. According to Jansson, though at least two of the five 3301 members are staunchly anti-abortion, he said he believes that they will not release patient information.

When the group first took responsibility for the hack, Planned Parenthood officials reportedly did not have any knowledge of a security breach. Although Planned Parenthood told The Daily Dot that no security flags had been raised, they are looking into the claims. "We've seen the claims around attempts to access our systems," Dawn Laguens, the executive vice president said in a statement to The Daily Dot. "We take security very seriously and are investigating. It's unsurprising that those opposed to safe and legal abortion are participating in this campaign of harassment against us and our patients, and claiming to stoop to this new low."

Neither The Daily Dot or other news sources are releasing links to the 3301 website where they claim to have dumped the database, though they have posted an excerpt apparently from the group's description.

We've noticed quite a lot of attention has been diverted to a supposedly malicious organization known as Planned Parenthood. The actions of this "federation" are not seen as right in the eyes of the public. So here we are, the social justice warriors, seeking to reclaim some sort of lulz for the years and thousands of dollars that Planned Parenthood have wasted and made harvesting your babies.

E, who claims to have been involved in the hack, told The Daily Dot that Planned Parenthood's actions of, "Trying to mold an atrocious monstrosity into socially acceptable behaviors is repulsive. Obviously what [Planned Parenthood] does is a very ominous practice," E said. "It'll be interesting to see what surfaces when [Planned Parenthood] is stripped naked and exposed to the public."

According to E, the hack was partially a failure. The organization had previously intended to deface Planned Parenthood's website, or reroute the main page back to 3301's Twitter page. They were unsuccessful, however, as the health organization's website's "backend is so terribly configured."

Anti-abortion backlash is nothing new for Planned Parenthood, even though abortion procedures only make up three percent of their services. The hack is only the most recent in the backlash Planned Parenthood is facing, since two videos were uploaded to YouTube by The Center For Medical Progress. Posing as tissue buyers, anti-abortion activists secretly filmed up to three hours of conversation with high-ranking Planned Parenthood officials, and then edited the videos into smaller segments.

Those who oppose abortion use the videos as proof that the health organization is selling fetal tissue, though Planned Parenthood maintains everything they do is legal. Despite this, Richards did apologize for the casual tone used by the employees that feature in the videos.

The outcry has also invigorated the campaigns of several GOP members who are outspoken against abortion. Multiple candidates, such as Rick Perry and Rand Paul, have leveraged the videos into increased campaign donations. In addition, the videos are being used as justification for increased support in legislative efforts to decrease Planned Parenthood funding.

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