In an evident retaliation to the controversial actions recently taken by a San Francisco regional subway authority, the ‘Anonymous’ hacktivists breached the security of MyBart. org, and published sensitive information for nearly 2,400 passengers who had set up accounts on the site.

After hacking the site – which is operated by the ‘Bay Area Rapid Transit’ (BART) -, the hacking group published the names, street and email addresses, site passwords, as well as some phone numbers for the site’s account holders.

The publishing of the data by the Anonymous hackers was also accompanied by a derisive note which said that the hacking group had taken the action to protest against the temporary suspension of cellphone service that BART had imposed on Thursday, and two fatal police shootings in the past few years.

The note also revealed that the personal details of the users were obtained after exploiting a SQL-injection vulnerability in the MyBart site --- thereby, implying that it was a type of attack which typically enables hackers to enter powerful database commands into a web forum and ensure their execution via the back-end server of the hacked site.

Noting that information is being collected about BART’s actions – pertaining to the suspension of cellular service at San Francisco stations -, FCC spokesman Neil Grace said in a statement that all necessary steps will be taken “to hear from stakeholders about the important issues those actions raised, including protecting public safety and ensuring the availability of communications networks.”