WSJ takes some computer systems offline after hacking

Computer systems housing The Wall Street Journal‘s news graphics were hacked by outside parties, according to Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co.

Greg Milliman and Jeffrey Trachtenberg of the Journal write, “The systems have been taken offline in an effort to isolate any attacks, according to people familiar with the matter. Journal officials hadn’t found any damage or tampering to news graphics, said one of these people, but the systems are still being reviewed for signs of compromise.

“A spokeswoman for the Journal said, ‘We are investigating an incident related to wsj.com’s graphics systems. At this point we see no evidence of any impact to Dow Jones customers or customer data.’

“The publisher’s response follows a hacker’s claims on Twitter to have penetrated the wsj.com website. The hacker is offering to sell not only user information but also the credentials necessary to control the server. That ability would allow a buyer to ‘modify articles, add new content, insert malicious content in any page, add new users, delete users and so on,’ said Andrew Komarov, chief executive of IntelCrawler, a Los Angeles-based cybersecurity firm, who brought the hack to the attention of the Journal.

“Mr. Komarov said his team discovered the vulnerability used by the hacker and confirmed that it could give an attacker the access claimed.”

Read more here.