Space – by Ben Weitzenkorn, TechNewsDaily Staff Writer
Members of the Anonymous-affiliated Team GhostShell hacking collective have published what they claim is stolen information for 1.6 million accounts linked to government agencies, including the Pentagon, NASA and the Federal Reserve.
The hackers appear to have breached the database with a malicious SQL code injection, ZDNet reported, stealing passwords and corresponding email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses and notes from defense tests.
“#ProjectWhiteFox will conclude this year’s series of attacks by promoting hacktivism worldwide and drawing attention to the freedom of information on the net,” Team GhostShell wrote in a Pastebin post that included links to the stolen information.
Team GhostShell gained notoriety when they leaked information from more than 100 websites, including those of the Thai Navy and MIT. The politically minded hackers made headlines again when they hacked 100 prestigious universities and leaked 120,000 records to protest what they called the deteriorating quality of education.
This latest breach is another blow to NASA, where computer security breaches have occurred with embarrassing frequency over the past two years. The space agency said it had lost more than 48 portable devices in addition to laptops stolen from employee vehicles in March 2011 and October of this year.
Team GhostShell may be in hacking hibernation for now, but it’s almost certain that the activist hackers will return in 2013.
“Happy holidays and who knows, maybe we’ll see each other again next year, the hackers wrote. They signed it, “GhostShell.”
This story was provided by TechNewsDaily, a sister site to SPACE.com. Follow Ben on Twitter @benkwx.
http://www.space.com/18878-ghostshell-data-breach-nasa-pentagon.html
If these hackers were real protesters, they would hack into the IRS computers and erase everyone’s tax records! Wasting time with NASA and the Pentagon proves these hackers are actually working for the government to “prove” the need for government control over the internet.
Point well taken.
I have to agree. They aren’t doing anything useful to help out the common people. This is a black-bag OP.
-flek
I couldn’t agree more.
Excellent point, Mike. It’s even worse than that. Apparently, hacking should be a capital crime now, according to one bright spark, Steven Biggs, a commenter via facebook over at the original post site, space.com. He has obviously thought that one through.
I’ve been wondering how long it would take before some useful idiot “government must control the internet” shill would lose his rag and start pushing for a “kill list” for “hackers”. If only I had a facebook account!
Does Steven’s (with a vee) definition of “hacking” extend to “any intentional activity on a networked computer which annoys, hinders, or damages a sufficient number of people by a sufficient amount to justify the term”?
If so, perhaps Steven himself’s days are numbered under the scheme he proposes.
People laughed when I predicted this years ago.
I really hope they’re still laughing when the first one gets murdered. And the hundredth.
“They say ‘Hey! Don’t worry, don’t be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride.’ And we…kill those people.” – Bill Hicks
Too bad hackers didn’t SHUT DOWN the Federal Reserve!