Facebook network hit by ‘sophisticated’ attack
Facebook said Friday its computer system was “targeted in a
sophisticated attack” last month, but that it found no evidence any user
data was compromised.
The company said in a blog post that malware came from an infected
website of a mobile developer and that “we remediated all infected
machines, informed law enforcement, and began a significant
investigation that continues to this day.” The attackers used a
previously unseen exploit taking advantage of a flaw in Java software
made by Oracle, which was alerted to the situation and released a patch
the first of February, according to Facebook. The hackers appeared to be
targeting developers and technology firms based on the website they
chose to booby-trap with malicious code. “Facebook was not alone in this
attack,” the Northern California-based company said. “It is clear that
others were attacked and infiltrated recently as well.”
The US intelligence community has concluded that America is the
target of a massive cyber-espionage campaign that is threatening its
competitiveness, The Washington Post reported just days ago.
Citing unnamed officials, the newspaper said the conclusion is
contained in the National Intelligence Estimate, a classified report
that represents the consensus view of the US intelligence community.
The document, according to the Post, identifies energy, finance,
information technology, aerospace and automotive companies as the most
frequent targets of hacking campaigns that appear state sponsored. Early
this month Twitter said it was hammered by a cyber attack similar to
those that recently hit major Western news outlets, and that the
passwords of about 250,000 users were stolen.
“This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it
was an isolated incident,” Twitter information security director Bob
Lord said in a blog post at the time. Lord said there was an “uptick in
large-scale security attacks aimed at US technology and media
companies,” as he told of Twitter detecting attempts this week to get
unauthorized access to data in the firm's network.
The attack coincided with the revelation of several high-profile
security breaches.
The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal said that they had
been hacked, and pointed to attackers from China.
It was unknown whether the cyberattack on San Francisco-based Twitter
was related to high-powered hacker assaults on Facebook, the Times or
the Journal. Brazen cyberattacks on America's most high-profile media
outlets revived concerns over Chinese hackers, who analysts say are
likely linked to the secretive Beijing government.
The Times and the Journal reported that their computer networks had
been compromised, alleging it was an effort by the Chinese government to
spy on news media operating in the country.
The administration of President Barack Obama is trying to counter the
electronic theft of trade secrets by lodging formal protests, expelling
diplomatic personnel, imposing travel and visa restrictions, and
complaining to the World Trade Organization, the Post said. |