Hackers Publicize Stratfor Subscriber Credit Card Information
By: Big 2 News Staff
Updated: December 26, 2011
Hackers
targeted Stratfor, a global intelligence company, but it was unclear
Sunday
evening whether the breach and apparent release of credit card
information was the work of the group Anonymous.
In a posting on the website Pastebin,
hackers said they released Stratfor subscriber data,
including information on 4,000 credit cards as well as the company's
"private client" list. The posting cited AntiSec, a web-based
collaboration with the activist hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec.
U.S.-based Stratfor, which provides
independent analysis of international affairs and security
threats, sent an e-mail to subscribers on Sunday:
"On December 24th an unauthorized party
disclosed personally identifiable information and
related credit card data of some of our members. We have reason to
believe that your personal and credit card data could have been included
in the information that was illegally obtained and disclosed."
But Stratfor also said the "private
clients" disclosure was "merely a list of some of the
members that have purchased our publications and does not comprise a
list of individuals or entities that have a relationship with Stratfor
beyond their purchase of our subscription-based publications."
The security think tank provides
intelligence reports to subscribers. A recent e-mail discussed
political prospects for Iraq.
A press release on the
information-sharing website Pastebin, which said it was by Anonymous,
said the group had nothing to do with the cyberattack on Stratfor.
"Stratfor is an open source intelligence
agency, publishing daily reports on data collected
from the open internet," the purported posting by Anonymous said.
"Hackers claiming to be Anonymous have distorted this truth in order to
further their hidden agenda, and some Anons have taken the bait."
"The leaked client list represents
subscribers to a daily publication which is the primary
service of Stratfor," according to the writer. "Stratfor analysts are
widely considered to be extremely unbiased. Anonymous does not attack
media sources."
Stratfor CEO George Friedman said the
company is working closely with law enforcement.
"Stratfor's relationship with its
members and, in particular, the confidentiality of their
subscriber information, are very important to Stratfor and me," he wrote
on the firm's Facebook page.
"We have reason to believe that the
names of our corporate subscribers have been posted
on other web sites," the Austin, Texas, company said. "We are diligently
investigating the extent to which subscriber information may have been
obtained."
Asked about the hacking, Pentagon
spokesman George Little on Sunday said, "Initial indications
suggest that there has been no impact to the DoD (Department of Defense)
grid."
Stratfor's website was not functioning
Sunday evening. A banner read, "Site is currently
undergoing maintenance. Please check back soon."
Hackers in weekend online postings
regarding the Stratfor situation mentioned Army Pfc.
Bradley Manning, who served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. He faces
22 charges in connection to the leak of nearly 750,000 U.S. military
and State Department documents. Most of them ended up on the WikiLeaks
website.
"While the rich and powerful are
enjoying themselves with all their bourgeois gifts and
lavish meals, our comrade Bradley Manning is not having that great of a
time in federal custody," the hackers wrote in a Pastebin posting.
"Instead of being heralded as a fighter for free information and
government transparency, he is criminalized, marginalized,
and incarcerated, threatened with life imprisonment."
(Copyright: CNN)
(Copyright: CNN)
