Washington: Hackers claim to have stolen
over 90,000 email addresses and passwords in a cyber attack on a major US military contractor, a media report said.
An arm of the online collective Anonymous has said that it broke into the computer systems of Booz Allen Hamilton and then posted the details on Internet, `The Daily Telegraph` online reported.
They apparently were able to get encrypted versions of
the email passwords only, 53,000 of which carried the military
".mil" domains, the report said.
The hackers also wiped out four gigabytes of Booz
Allen source code in an attack they called "Military Meltdown
Monday". The group said: "We infiltrated a server on their
network that basically had no security measures in place."
Booz Allen provides technological services including
cyber-security consulting to the American military and other
US government agencies. Its staff includes Michael McConnell,
former director of the National Security Agency.
A US Defence Department spokesman said: "We are aware
of the incident and coordinating with our federal partners."
A spokesman for Booz Allen said its security policy
meant "we generally do not comment on specific threats or
actions taken against our systems".
The hacking group responded with the comment: "You
have a security policy? We never noticed."
Anonymous became well-known last year for attacking
companies including Amazon, Bank of America, Mastercard and
Visa, that had cut off services to WikiLeaks and its founder,
Julian Assange.
PTI
