Israeli mobile forensics firm Cellebrite has announced that it has suffered a data breach Attack.Databreach following an unauthorized access to an external web server . “ The impacted server included a legacy database backup of my.Cellebrite , the company ’ s end user license management system . The company had previously migrated to a new user accounts system . Presently , it is known that the information accessed includes basic contact information of users registered for alerts or notifications on Cellebrite products and hashed passwords for users who have not yet migrated to the new system , ” the company stated , and added that it is still investigating the attack . They are also notifying affected customers , and advising them to change their passwords . The confirmation comes a few hours after Motherboard released Attack.Databreach general information about 900 GB of data that they obtained Attack.Databreach and has supposedly been stolen Attack.Databreach from the firm . The cache includes alleged usernames and passwords for logging into Cellebrite databases connected to the company ’ s my.cellebrite domain , ” the publication noted . “ The dump Attack.Databreach also contains what appears to be evidence files from seized mobile phones , and logs from Cellebrite devices ” . The hacker that shared the data with the publication and is apparently behind the breach also noted that access to the compromised servers has been traded among hackers in IRC chat rooms , so it ’ s possible that other persons have exfiltrated Attack.Databreach potentially sensitive data . “ The Cellebrite breach Attack.Databreach shows that anyone can be hacked , even firms whose bread and butter is data exfiltration Attack.Databreach . And Cellebrite isn ’ t the first organization of this type to be targeted – Hacking Team and Gamma International have both experienced similar attacks by groups opposed to government surveillance , ” Tony Gauda , CEO of ThinAir , commented for Help Net Security . “ While the 900 GB of data hasn ’ t been released publicly , it ’ s safe to assume that the information is highly sensitive . Besides customer information , the hackers managed to retrieve Attack.Databreach technical data , which could have serious repercussions if it were to fall into the wrong hands . Incidents such as this are the cyber equivalent of robbing a gun store , and I wouldn ’ t be surprised if the proprietary info stolen Attack.Databreach eventually made its way online . Demand for advanced hacking tools and techniques has never been higher and until these firms start securing their digital arsenals with technology capable of rendering data useless when it ’ s compromised , they will continue to find themselves in the crosshairs of hackers ” . Cellebrite ’ s name has become widely known after reports that the company has been asked for help to exfiltrate data Attack.Databreach from the locked iPhone belonging to Syed Farook , one of the San Bernardino shooters

On Friday , the unnamed hacker began dumping Attack.Databreach a sizable database stolen Attack.Databreach from Freedom Hosting II onto the internet , potentially exposing its users . The hosting service , Freedom Hosting II , was known for operating thousands of sites that were accessible through the Tor browser ; the `` dark web '' is essentially the encrypted network comprising Tor servers and browsers . Its main landing page was replaced with a message saying that it had been hacked . Allegedly , Freedom Hosting II had been hosting child pornography sites , though its anonymous operator claimed to have a zero-tolerance policy toward such content , according to the hacker behind the breach . “ What we found while searching through your server is more than 50 % child porn… ” the hacker wrote in the message left on the site . “ Moreover , you host many scam sites , some of which are evidently run by yourself to cover hosting expenses ” . In an email to the IDG News Service , the hacker explained how the breach came about . “ I just recently read an article about a well-known exploit that some hosting providers fell victims of many years ago , ” the person said . However , starting on Jan. 30 , the hacker gained access to its web server , using a 20-step method . The hack essentially involved starting a new site on Freedom Hosting II and creating a link to gain access to the service ’ s root directory . This allowed the hacker to browse the entire server . “ I had reading permissions to everything the web server could get access to just by creating a symlink to / ( the root directory ) ” . After coming across child porn sites , the hacker decided to take over Freedom Hosting II by altering its configuration file to trigger a password reset . “ Once I found out what they were hosting , I just wanted to shut them down , ” said the hacker , who ’ s also been circulating what he stole Attack.Databreach through a torrent file . The dump Attack.Databreach includes 74GB of files and a 2.3GB database from the service , the hacker claims . “ The IP of the server has been leaked Attack.Databreach , which potentially could reveal the admin 's identity , ” the hacker added . Chris Monteiro , a cybercrime researcher based in the U.K. , has been looking through the data dump , which he said appears to be real . The information includes the sites that Freedom Hosting II had been operating , along with the admin credentials to access them . The dump Attack.Databreach also appears to contain a client database , meaning that anyone who used Freedom Hosting II might be exposed , Monteiro said .

On Friday , the unnamed hacker began dumping Attack.Databreach a sizable database stolen Attack.Databreach from Freedom Hosting II onto the internet , potentially exposing its users . The hosting service , Freedom Hosting II , was known for operating thousands of sites that were accessible through the Tor browser ; the `` dark web '' is essentially the encrypted network comprising Tor servers and browsers . Its main landing page was replaced with a message saying that it had been hacked . Allegedly , Freedom Hosting II had been hosting child pornography sites , though its anonymous operator claimed to have a zero-tolerance policy toward such content , according to the hacker behind the breach . “ What we found while searching through your server is more than 50 % child porn… ” the hacker wrote in the message left on the site . “ Moreover , you host many scam sites , some of which are evidently run by yourself to cover hosting expenses ” . In an email to the IDG News Service , the hacker explained how the breach came about . “ I just recently read an article about a well-known exploit that some hosting providers fell victims of many years ago , ” the person said . However , starting on Jan. 30 , the hacker gained access to its web server , using a 20-step method . The hack essentially involved starting a new site on Freedom Hosting II and creating a link to gain access to the service ’ s root directory . This allowed the hacker to browse the entire server . “ I had reading permissions to everything the web server could get access to just by creating a symlink to / ( the root directory ) ” . After coming across child porn sites , the hacker decided to take over Freedom Hosting II by altering its configuration file to trigger a password reset . “ Once I found out what they were hosting , I just wanted to shut them down , ” said the hacker , who ’ s also been circulating what he stole Attack.Databreach through a torrent file . The dump Attack.Databreach includes 74GB of files and a 2.3GB database from the service , the hacker claims . “ The IP of the server has been leaked Attack.Databreach , which potentially could reveal the admin 's identity , ” the hacker added . Chris Monteiro , a cybercrime researcher based in the U.K. , has been looking through the data dump , which he said appears to be real . The information includes the sites that Freedom Hosting II had been operating , along with the admin credentials to access them . The dump Attack.Databreach also appears to contain a client database , meaning that anyone who used Freedom Hosting II might be exposed , Monteiro said .

WikiLeaks is posting Attack.Databreach thousands of files Tuesday the organization says detail the CIA ’ s efforts to surveil overseas targets by tapping otherwise ordinary devices that are connected to the Internet . The anti-secrecy group launched a “ new series of leaks , ” this time taking aim at the CIA ’ s Center for Cyber Intelligence , which falls under the agency ’ s Digital Innovation Directorate . The group maintains the CIA ’ s center lost control of its hacking arsenal , including malware , viruses , trojans , weaponized `` zero day '' exploits , malware remote control systems and associated documentation , and is posting what it calls the `` largest-ever publication of confidential documents on the agency . '' The dump Attack.Databreach comprises 8,761 documents and files from a network of the Center for Cyber Intelligence . A CIA spokeswoman declined to comment specifically . “ We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents , ” says Heather Fritz Horniak . The authenticity of the posted documents in links from the WikiLeaks site could not be independently verified . Last year , WikiLeaks disseminated Attack.Databreach internal email communications following a hack Attack.Databreach —purportedly aided by the Russian government—of the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign . The group says the Center for Cyber Intelligence's archive was circulated in an '' unauthorized manner '' among former U.S. government hackers and contractors , one of whom provided Attack.Databreach WikiLeaks with portions of the archive . “ This extraordinary collection , which amounts to more than several hundred million lines of code , gives its possessor the entire hacking capacity of the CIA , ” WikiLeaks states . “ Once a single cyber 'weapon ' is 'loose ' it can spread around the world in seconds , to be used by rival states , cyber mafia and teenage hackers alike ” . The violation highlights critical shortcomings in personnel practices , the realities of insider threats and the lack of adequate controls , even within the intelligence community . `` It ’ s too easy for data to be stolen Attack.Databreach , even—allegedly—within the CIA ’ s Center for Cyber Intelligence , '' says Brian Vecci , technical evangelist at Varonis , a software company focused on data protection against insider threats , data breaches Attack.Databreach and ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom '' The entire concept of a spook is to be covert and undetectable ; apparently that also applies to actions on their own network . The CIA is not immune to issues affecting many organizations : too much access with too little oversight and detective controls . '' A Forrester study noted that more 90 percent of data security professionals experience challenges with data security , and 59 percent of organizations do not restrict access to files on a need-to know-basis , Vecci points out . `` In performing forensics on the actual breach Attack.Databreach , the important examination is to determine how 8,761 files just walked out of Attack.Databreach one of the most secretive and confidential organizations in the world , '' he continues . `` Files that were once useful in their operations are suddenly lethal to those same operations . We call this toxic data , anything that is useful and valuable to an organization but once stolen Attack.Databreach and made public turns toxic to its bottom line and reputation . All you have to do is look at Sony , Mossack Fonseca and the DNC to see the effects of this toxic data conversion . `` Organizations need to get a grip on where their information assets are , who is using them , and who is responsible for them , '' Vecci concludes . They need to put all that data lying around in the right place , restrict access to it and monitor and analyze who is using it . '' Tuesday ’ s document dump Attack.Databreach mirrors the one WikiLeaks carried out when it exposed Attack.Databreach cyber toolkits used by the National Security Agency , and frankly , is not that surprising of revelation at all , offers Richard Forno , assistant director at the University of Maryland , Baltimore County Center for Cybersecurity and director of the Cybersecurity Graduate Program . “ The big takeaway Attack.Databreach is that it shows the CIA is just as capable of operating in the cyberspace as the NSA , ” Forno says . The CIA ’ s cyber focus reinforces the idea that security in this domain is just as important as others for national security and solidifies the U.S. government ’ s commitment in the area , Forno offers . WikiLeaks contends that the CIA and its contractors developed malware and hacking tools for targeted surveillance efforts , tapping otherwise ordinary devices such as cellphones , computers , televisions and automobiles to spy on targets . Some cases involved CIA collaboration with the United Kingdom ’ s intelligence MI5/BTSS , WikiLeaks states . It maintains the CIA ’ s Mobile Devices Branch developed malware to penetrate cellphone securities and could be tapped to send CIA users ’ geolocation information , audio and text files and covertly activate the phones ’ cameras and microphones . “ These techniques permit the CIA to bypass the encryption of WhatsApp , Signal , Telegram , Wiebo , Confide and Cloackman by hacking Attack.Databreach the ‘ smart ’ phones that they run on and collecting Attack.Databreach audio and message traffic before encryption is applied , ” the group states .