Hacker tried to sell access to BBC server -- report

A Russian hacker wasn't exactly in the Christmas spirit when he reportedly tried to sell access to a BBC server on December 25.

Apparently first spotted by cybersecurity firm Hold Security, the recent attack hit a BBC FTP server and was conducted by a "notorious Russian hacker" known as "Hash" and "Rev0lver," Reuters reported on Sunday. No evidence has turned up indicating that the hacker stole any actual information.

But "Hash" attempted to make a Christmas Day profit out of his exploits, according to Hold Security founder Alex Holden. The hacker tried to sell access to the server to fellow cybercriminals, Holden told Reuters. "Hash" even showed other hackers certain information that could only be obtained by someone who controlled the server.

Holden confirmed the discovery in an e-mail sent to CNET:

We discovered the situation through our Deep Web Monitoring service. As a part of the service to our customers, we search the Deep Web (hacker forums and other communications) for any evidence of breaches of our customers' data. However, we often see other hacker activities like this one. In short, we saw hacker "Hash" trying to sell access to the BBC server. As a proof, he was offering a screenshot of his access which we found to be credible. To-date we saw no evidence that he was successful in selling this access or if any other data had been taken from BBC.

The server has since been secured, a person familiar with the cleanup effort told Reuters. But the BBC itself has been mum about the matter, telling Reuters that "we do not comment on security issues."

The FTP site was used by BBC reporters to send in stories and by advertisers to upload media files, according to BBC News.

Topics: Cybercrime, Security, Privacy and data protection, Vulnerabilities and attacks, Hacks Tags: BBC, hack, cybercriminal, security, hacker

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