Anonymous hacks the European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) has been hacked by Anonymous, and the names and login credentials of some of its employees have been posted online, the media reported on Monday.
The data released into the wild includes full names, email contact details, clear text passwords, office addresses, phone and fax contact details of those registered on the ESA database. The information contains 52 names, email addresses and passwords of 52 internal ESA users.
Hackers have also uploaded a file containing over 8,000 names, email addresses and passwords of over 8,000 subscribers to the ESA domains.
The subdomains which were targeted are due.esrin.esa.int, exploration.esa.int and sci.esa.int subdomains. Anonymous has apparently told HackRead it did it "for the lulz".
"Because Xmas is coming and we had to do something for fun so we did it for the lulz", a member of Anonymous said.
It’s been a while since Anonymous entertained itself with hacks like this one -- the group has been too busy uncovering ISIS online, and helping social media companies and hosting companies shut down ISIS websites and social media channels.
This year was pretty big for cyber-attacks. There have been a number of high-profile breaches, including the dreaded Ashley Madison hack, the TalkTalk breach and the attack on health insurance company Anthem.
Cyber-security has become a hot topic worldwide, with businesses investing heavily into bolstering their cyber-defences.
A recent attack on pub chain JD Wetherspoon saw hackers potentially make off with details of 650,000 customers, while ISP provider TalkTalk is still facing the consequences of the latest in a series of data breaches that have taken place over the past year.
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