WebHostingTalk hacked and taken offline
WebHostingTalk, one of the largest online forums for discussion of Webhosting and Server related issues, was maliciously attacked over the weekend.
A hacker gained access to an offsite backup server and then used information on that server to walk into the main live server. The hacker deleted the backup databases, and then deleted the live site. Apparently, they also covered their tracks and over wrote the drives so that no possibility of recovery was possible.
On a forum post a community member of WHT revealed the following:
This attack was very deliberate, sophisticated and calculated. The attacker was able to circumvent our security measures and access via an arcane backdoor protected by additional firewall. We are still investigating the situation, but we know the attacker infiltrated and deleted the backups first and then deleted three databases: user/post/thread. We have no record or evidence that private message data was accessed. Absolutely no credit card or PayPal data was exposed.
Unfortunately for WebHostingTalk, the last local offline copy of the system is from late last year. So expect them to be offline for a bit, while they rebuild their database.
It just goes to show how important offline backup is. Make sure you have the correct backup solution.
Adapted from: http://www.webmasterworld.com/community_building/3879428.htm
