14 DAY TRIAL // The web site of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University was attacked and went offline yesterday. The purpose of it all, the guy behind the attack says that he wanted to demonstrate the insecurity of the university's server and, I dare add, the recklessness of those in charge of it. You'll find out why in a second.
The download, available on the BitTorrent file-sharing network, has a stuffed description and it includes contacts files and other files associated with Joomla, an open-source content management system - along with other various bits, PC World reports. Furthermore, the attacker and original seeder posted the usernames and passwords of two of the site's system administrators. "Stupid people, you don't use a secure password," it reads just above.
Users of The Pirate Bay tracking site already took kindly to the disclosure and by this morning there were 11 more seeders and 9 leechers. Curiosity killed the proverbial cat and not the all-so-very-real hacker, as this private information will expose a lot of people and leave them vulnerable in the eyes of others.
There was no immediate response available from Harvard, as the media office was closed on Monday due to the United States' Presidents Day, a national holiday. No reply or official position was issued until today either, so this must be one of the situations summarized best by the old saying "the silence says it all."
No need to point out the obvious implications the stunt has, because they are so obvious a blind man can see them, but I will try and find some excuse for those careless enough to use non-secure passwords. Sorry, I can't. It's an example of amateurism or one of overconfidence at best, although I don't see how that could be better in any way.