Stratfor so very, very sorry in wake of mega-hack
23.05.12
Security firms slammed Stratfor for making schoolboy errors, such as not encrypting its password database.
Commenting on the hack, Check Point's UK managing director Terry Greer-King said: "It’s not clear exactly how the hackers gained access to the servers, but once they’d breached the perimeter, sensitive business and personal data was unprotected. This made it easy to access and use for illicit purposes.
"It’s another clear lesson that this type of information needs to be encrypted, no matter how strong the organisation believes its perimeter security measures are. Encryption protects critical data against both accidental disclosure and hacking attempts."
Stratfor clients include the US military as well as banks and other corporations. Reuters reports that hackers have threatened to upload copied mail spools.
This has yet to happen. The exact motives of the attack are unclear, but the fact that Stratfor provides intelligence services for law enforcement, among others, made them target for anti-sec hacktivists, who delight in exposing the security failings of White Hat infosec firms and consultancies. ®
Source: Register
