Cybersecurity
New York Times Internal Network Hacked
How open proxies and default passwords led to Adrian Lamo padding his
rolodex with 3,000 op-ed writers, from William F. Buckley Jr. to Jimmy
Carter
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Security holes in the New York Times internal network left sensitive databases exposed to hackers, including a file containing Social Security numbers and home phone numbers for contributors to the Times op-ed page, SecurityFocus Online has learned.
In a two-minute scan performed on a whim, twenty-one-year-old hacker and sometimes-security consultant Adrian Lamo discovered no less than seven misconfigured proxy servers acting as doorways between the public Internet and the Times' private intranet, making the latter accessible to anyone capable of properly configuring their Web browser.