Wall Street Journal computers taken offline after cyber attack
Hacker 'w0rm' claims to have gained access to data and is looking to sell information
Computers at The Wall Street Journal were taken offline after it was discovered hackers had infiltrated networks at the brand, its publisher Dow Jones & Co has said.
The computer systems, which contained Wall Street Journal's news graphics, were hacked by an outside party and have been disconnected from the rest of the network in order to prevent the spread of additional cyber attacks.
According to those familiar with the matter, taking the system offline is merely a precaution and no evidence of data being damaged or stolen has been found as of yet.
"We are investigating an incident related to wsj.com's graphics systems. At this point we see no evidence of any impact to Dow Jones customers or customer data," a spokesperson for the Wall Street Journ al said in a statement.
However, a hacker using the Twitter handle 'w0rm' has posted screenshots of what they claim to be a successful hack of the Wall Street Journal website. They're also reportedly offering to sell user information and details of how to control the server and modify WSJ content for those willing to pay in Bitcoin.
The hacker's claims have been verified said Andrew Komarov, chief executive of IntelCrawler, the security firm that brought the hack to the attention of Dow Jones & Co.
"We confirmed there is the opportunity to get access to any database on the wsj.com server, a list of over 20 databases hosted on this server," he said, adding that the initial vulnerability that allowed access to the server came from maps in the graphics database.
If the Wall Street Journal has indeed by infiltrated by ‘w0rm,' it isn't their first successful attack on a media site, with the computer hacker having previously infiltrated the servers of Vice media.