New York – Gawker Media was hacked over the weekend, reportedly
in response to the blog publisher’s critical coverage of 4chan, an online
message board favored by hackers. The company’s Web infrastructure was
compromised, and a hacker dubbed "Gnosis" released a 500MB file that
contained the company’s source code, passwords of employees and site
commenters, and internal company correspondence.
The security breach affected
Gawker’s flagship site, in addition to its Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Jezebel, io9,
Jalopnik, Kotaku, Deadspin and Fleshbot sites.
"We’re deeply embarrassed by this breach," the
company wrote in a blog post.
Gawker Media also posted a notice on all of its
sites urging readers to change their passwords, linking to a post with
additional details on its Lifehacker site.
"We’re bringing in an
independent security firm to improve security across our entire
infrastructure," the company wrote.
"Additionally, we will continue
to work with independent auditors to ensure we maintain a reliable level of
security, as well as the processes necessary to ensure we maintain a safe
environment for our commenters."
Related Links:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/12/gawker-hacked
http://tinyurl.com/37mgo5e
(The Next Web)
