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The five online news sites of Embarcadero Media Group, including mv-voice.com, were hacked Thursday night at about 10:30 p.m. but are now back online.
The sites, which provide online content for the Palo Alto Weekly, The Almanac and Mountain View Voice in the Mid-Peninsula and the Pleasanton Weekly in the East Bay, were attacked by someone who used an image of Guy Fawkes, the icon of the activist group Anonymous.
Embarcadero Media took down the websites — PaloAltoOnline.com, mv-voice.com, almanacnews.com, pleasantonweekly.com and danvillesanramon.com — while working to restore them.
There is no indication that the email addresses and passwords of readers who are registered users of the company’s websites were hacked, but the perpetrators did have access to those data files,which could have been taken, according to Embarcadero President and CEO Bill Johnson. He advised readers who are registered users to change their passwords and, if they use the same password on other sites, to change those, too.
The company does not store any credit card information on its computer systems, so that data is not at risk, he said.
The hacker posted a message that indicated disgruntlement with The Almanac, which covers Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and Woodside: “Greetings, this site has been hacked. Embarcadero Media Group (Alamanac) (sic) has failed to remove content that has been harmful to the wellbeing and safety of others. Failure to honor all requests to remove content will lead to the permanent shutdown of all Embarcadero Media Group websites.”
As part of the hack, each website’s URL was replaced with the text “Unbalanced journalism for profit at the cost of human right. Brought to you by the Almanac.”
The message concluded with language used by Anonymous: “We do not forgive, we do not forget, we are legion.”
However, according to Forbes Magazine journalist Parmy Olson, who has written extensively about the group, one of the collective’s rules is not attacking the media. In addition, no specific objection to an article or posted information was provided by the hacker.
The FBI and officers from the Palo Alto and Mountain View police departments are investigating the attack, Johnson said.
He called the incident a “sophisticated and elaborate attack aimed at inflicting extensive damage.”
“Fortunately, numerous back-ups and safeguards, and a quick response by our IT team, were able to prevent even more serious harm to the company’s operations,” he said.
While the websites were down, the newspaper staffs published on Facebook, Twitter and Issuu.com. All the websites were restored from back-ups that are routinely made, and no content is expected to have been lost.
Embarcadero Media Group is headquartered at 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto. The private, independent media company publishes The Almanac, which covers Menlo Park, Atherton, Woodside and Portola Valley; the Mountain View Voice, which covers the city of Mountain View; the Palo Alto Weekly, which covers Palo Alto and East Palo Alto; and the Pleasanton Weekly, which covers Pleasanton. In addition to weekly print editions, it also operates websites, including DanvilleSanRamon.com, and produces daily emailed news editions, Express. The PaloAlto app for iPhone and Android phones can be accessed through iTunes and the Google Play Store.
By Mountain View Voice staff
By Mountain View Voice staff
By Mountain View Voice staff
This is a good example why one should avoid registering on a website.
If you remain anonymous, the chances of a critical data breach are much lower.
Was confidential user information such as user names, email addresses, and passwords encrypted or available to the hackers as plain text? What other information is stored on your servers, such as IP addresses, cookie history, and other traceable data?
I suppose this is a warning to users not go give up this information casually.
The Embarcadero Media Group group, needs to tighten down it’s security on it’s servers. Get rid of old accounts and force everyone in there domain to change passwords and only give admin privileges to a select few.
Remote access needs to be tightened up as well, delete old accounts and ask the users to change passwords. Even that may not stop it. Use a VPN software that after 5 trys of the wrong password, it disables the account.
They restored from backups but they lost some user comments that were left after the most recent backup. What will I do if I can’t read the accumulated drivel of commenters over that few hours period?
Some sad clown in a sad clown mask doing sad clown things.
Imagine how small, cowardly and powerless one has to feel to do this stuff.
I hope he finds some friends. Anyone who fears the MV Voice this much needs a reality check, and probably a long overdue hug or some other form of human contact.
Not the last time it will continue
No, they weren’t afraid of Embarcadero Media or its readers.
They are terrorists. The object of terrorists is to promote terror. They target sites like Embarcadero Media’s properties to make innocent people afraid and fearful of living their normal lives.
That’s the point of groups like Al-Qaida or the Boston bombers. The Tsarnaev brothers didn’t have any particular hatred for marathon runners or race watchers.
The PA Weekly’s article won’t let me post, not sure if there is a good reason for this or not.
However, I don’t think it is completely sorted yet. I can access both on my computer but my phone will only let me read the headlines and if I try to read the full story on my phone I still get Guy Fawkes.
Could this be some sort of practice run for a major hack on a big site like CNN or Reuters?
Oh I’m so Happy that things are back in order. I enjoy reading the local news, very peachy keen.
Hopefully the MT. View Cyber detectives well find the culprits and bring them to justices.
Off with their heads.
The MV Voice should look no further than ultra-lib & insane Occupier hackers trying to force acceptance of of illegal aliens and rent control upon us. We’re in a new world, where hackers are more powerful than politicians, who are too cowardly to confront them.
Psssssst…I think that OldMV is your main suspect here…
Really? Taking down our community newspaper?
So what information are they afraid of? Bus lanes on El Camino? A recipe for muffins in The Food Pantry?