How The New York Times could have prevented yesterday’s attack for just $50

by SkyDriver Thu 29 Aug 2013, 7:30 am

Adding Registry Lock service to a domain name prevents unauthorized name server changes.

Yesterday the nameservers for The New York Times’ NYTimes.com domain name were altered, allegedly by the Syrian Electronic Army, which led to some internet users not being able to access the company’s website.

https://domainnamewire.com/2013/08/28/new-york-times-syrian-electronic-army-hack/

by SkyDriver Thu 29 Aug 2013, 10:26 am

As it turns out, Melbourne IT became the registrar du jour, after Twitter, the NY Times and Huffington Post UK were all compromised.

The alleged ‘Syrian hackers’ manipulated the domain records of the domains registered with Melbourne IT, including the DNS and made changes to the ownership records.

http://acro.net/blog/domains/melbourne-it-and-the-recent-dns-hijack-incident/

by SkyDriver Thu 29 Aug 2013, 6:17 pm

Amazon.com and Pinterest among those sites more vulnerable to unauthorized nameserver changes.

Yesterday I wrote about how NYTimes.com could have avoided its nameserver hijacking on Tuesday had it paid about $50 a month for a service called Registry Lock.

https://domainnamewire.com/2013/08/29/6-of-top-20-websites-vulnerable-to-attack-that-took-down-nytimes-com/

by SkyDriver Fri 30 Aug 2013, 1:32 pm

Two big sites have their domains compromised — and both use the same domain name registrar.

Twitter and the New York Times have apparently had their domain names compromised, and the two companies have one thing in common: they both use MelbourneIT as their domain name registrar.

https://domainnamewire.com/2013/08/27/melbourneit-the-weak-link-as-twitter-and-ny-times-domain-names-compromised/

by SkyDriver Fri 30 Aug 2013, 1:35 pm

Melbourne IT chief executive Theo Hnarakis will step down by the end of year after more than a decade as CEO according to afr.com

The move comes on the day that it appears hackers associated with the Syrian Electronic Army Group hackers gained access the New York Times and Twitter amongst others although Melbourne IT who hosted the websites domain names.

http://www.thedomains.com/2013/08/28/on-day-of-hacking-melbourne-it-announces-ceo-theo-hnarakis-will-step-down-by-the-end-of-year/

by SkyDriver Fri 30 Aug 2013, 1:38 pm

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - MelbourneIT, an Australian Internet service provider that sells and manages domain names including Twitter.com and NYTimes, said on Tuesday the credentials of a reseller had been used improperly to change domain settings and hack into sites including the NYTimes.com.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-media-hacking-melbourne-20130827,0,6684803.story

by SkyDriver Fri 06 Sep 2013, 2:35 pm

Melbourne IT has revealed one of its overseas resellers was a victim of a “spear phishing” attack which allowed the Syrian Electronic Army to hijack the New York Times (NYT) and some Twitter websites.

A Melbourne spokesperson said staff of an overseas-based reseller “unwittingly” responded to a spear phishing attack which allowed attackers to access sensitive information, including usernames and passwords. This was used to access the reseller's account on Melbourne IT systems.

http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/525243/melbourne_it_blames_overseas_reseller_new_york_times_domain_name_breach_/

by Sponsored content

How The New York Times could have prevented yesterday’s attack for just $50

How The New York Times could have prevented yesterday’s attack for just $50

Melbourne IT and the recent DNS hijack incident

6 of top 20 websites vulnerable to attack that took down NYTimes.com

Melbourne IT the weak link as Twitter and NY Times domain names compromised

On Day Of Hacking, Melbourne IT Announces CEO Theo Hnarakis will Step Down By the End of Year

Melbourne IT says reseller credentials used in hacking of NYT, other media

Melbourne IT blames overseas reseller for New York Times domain name breach

Re: How The New York Times could have prevented yesterday’s attack for just $50