Technology and Science14 September, 20262 min read
Hackers Breach Florida DAVID After Exploiting Plant City Police Employee Credentials
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DAVID driver-record system breached via compromised Plant City Police Department credentials. Hackers published hundreds of thousands of records, including about 200,000 driver records.
DAVID breached via login
Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said its Driver and Vehicle Information Database, known as DAVID, was breached after hackers exploited credentials tied to a single Plant City Police Department employee whose login was improperly stored on a personal electronic device.
“They exploited a personal device that was connected to the database when it shouldn’t have been.”
WCTV reported that “They exploited a personal device that was connected to the database when it shouldn’t have been,” and it said FLHSMV traced the access vector to that stored credential.
WPEC said Florida officials learned of the breach on Sept. 4 and contained it, adding that there is no ongoing breach.
Fox News reported that FLHSMV confirmed it learned about the incident on Sept. 4, quickly mitigated it, and saw no further breach or ongoing unauthorized access.
ShinyHunters claims and limits
The hacking group ShinyHunters claimed it accessed DAVID and stole more than 200,000 Florida driver records, but FLHSMV did not confirm that record count publicly. WCTV said a well-known hacking group known as “ShinyHunters” posted on the dark web that it obtained about 200,000 driver licenses and wanted a ransom to delete the data.
TechCrunch reported that ShinyHunters published data on its leak site “because the victim did not pay a ransom or cooperate and comply” with the hackers’ demands. TechCrunch also said the hackers posted a screenshot purporting to be a record associated with the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and it reported that the stolen data included vehicle owners’ names and addresses of buyers and sellers, plus vehicle identification numbers.
Privacy fight and notification
The breach is now feeding Florida’s privacy debate, with shatterd.io describing how the “single detail” of a government login stored on a personal device is doing more to reshape the state’s privacy debate than the breach’s exact scope. shatterd.io said FLHSMV confirmed on September 11, 2026, that DAVID was accessed using credentials tied to a single Plant City Police Department employee, and it said FLHSMV learned of the breach on September 4, 2026.
“FLHSMV said they’ve told Attorney General James Uthmeier and would notify the Floridians whose data was stolen.”
WCTV reported that FLHSMV said it told Attorney General James Uthmeier and would notify the Floridians whose data was stolen, while WPEC said FLHSMV did not say how many records may have been accessed or what specific information may have been exposed. Fox News added that FLHSMV said it notified the Florida Office of the Attorney General as required under state law and that the criminal investigation remains ongoing, with officials saying additional information will be released at an appropriate time.