Security analysis firm Stratfor recently fell victim to a breach in which a group of hackers gained access to its private data. Now, the victims of the breach might be targeted once again because they spoke out about the actions of the hacking group, known as “Anonymous.” Stratfor mentioned this on its Facebook (News - Alert) page so to warn its clients and people who spoke out that they may be targeted again.
Here's the original post from Facebook by Stratfor, regarding the hacking incident: “It's come to our attention that our members who are speaking out in support of us on Facebook may be being targeted for doing so and are at risk of having sensitive information repeatedly published on other websites. So, in order to protect yourselves, we recommend taking security precautions when speaking out on Facebook or abstaining from it altogether.”
A group claiming to speak on behalf of Anonymous commented on an Associated Press (News - Alert) report, mocking other commenters who spoke about their experiences when they learned that their information was compromised and used against their will to make charitable donations. The message posted by this group also said to one critic, "we went ahead and ran up your card a bit."
Although Stratfor spokesman Kyle Rhodes refused to disclose whether the data was encrypted or not, Anonymous took the liberty of saying that the data was not encrypted at all. Such vulnerability in a security firm is one of the biggest embarrassments Stratfor might have to face. Rhodes claimed that he couldn't disclose any details about the attack since law enforcement agencies were still investigating the incident. There's no word on whether that was the real reason he didn't disclose anything.
At this point, Anonymous is warning us that another attack will happen this week. Note that the loose-knit group has claimed responsibility for hacking credit card companies, PayPal (News - Alert), and banks. Interestingly enough, the group also claimed credit for hacking attacks on the Church of Scientology.
Miguel Leiva-Gomez is a professional writer with experience in computer sciences, technology, and gadgets. He has written for multiple technology and travel outlets and owns his own tech blog called The Tech Guy, where he writes educational, informative, and sometimes comedic articles for an audience that is less versed in technology.
Edited by Rich Steeves
