14 DAY TRIAL // A Russian hacker has reportedly gained access to an FTP server belonging to the BBC. On Christmas Day, he posted a message on an underground website offering to sell access to the compromised machine.
The post was first spotted by researchers of Hold Security LLC, the same company that’s been helping Brian Krebs analyze the data stolen by cybercriminals from Adobe, PR Newswire and other high-profile organizations.
The IT security company’s CISO, Alex Holden, has told Reuters that the hacker claimed to have breached ftp.bbc.co.uk. The BBC has refused to comment on the incident, but sources have told Reuters that the website was secured on Saturday by the British broadcaster’s security team.
The hacker in question is said to be well known on the cybercrime scene. He has been using online names like “Rev0lver” and “HASH.” To demonstrate that he had breached the BBC server, he showed potential buyers some files that could have been obtained only by someone with access to the server.
Justin Clarke of Cylance has told Reuters that while the compromised resource is only an obscure FTP server, some cybercriminals could find it valuable because it might allow them to further access the BBC’s systems.
Selling access to compromised servers belonging to high-profile organizations is not uncommon. Earlier this month, 24-year-old Andrew James Miller was sentenced to 18 months in prison for such activities.
He hacked the computer systems of various major organizations, including the ones of US government agencies such as the Department of Energy.
As far as the BBC is concerned, this isn’t the first time it’s targeted by hackers. Earlier this year, the Syrian Electronic Army hijacked a number of the media company’s Twitter accounts.