Fasthosts apologises after sites are hacked |
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| Friday, 07 December 2007 | |
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Hundreds of firms have been hit by a security attack on one of the UK’s largest web hosting companies, Fasthosts.
Last month, Fasthosts wrote to all its customers to advise them that the company had discovered that one of its servers had been hacked into. Hackers managed to access personal data of business customers, including payment details, addresses, emails and passwords. The firm recommended that all customers update their control panel, FTP and email passwords as a precautionary measure. The company said in a statement that it was made aware on 29 November, that “a very small number of customers” who did not change their passwords had found their websites compromised. It temporarily closed down an undisclosed number of sites as a security measure. Fasthosts subsequently implemented automatic password changes to every customer that did not change their control panel and FTP passwords as was previously recommended. The firm said it would also change all unchanged email passwords automatically on Thursday 13 December. It added that the affected customers will receive their new passwords by Royal Mail and have been informed of all these changes and what they are required to do. Most affected clients will, however, not be able to update or access their websites until they receive the new password. The closure of their websites hits business customers, including many small businesses, in the vital shopping period in the run-up to Christmas, after an already difficult year of trading. “Fasthosts has established procedures for dealing with any issues that could impact its customers, including promptly notifying its customers. A system-wide external security audit has removed the vulnerability that led to the recent network intrusion and enhanced the overall security appropriately,” according to the firm’s statement. Fasthosts added that it considered that its practices and procedures were up to date, and represented good practice in continually protecting the security of its customer data. “We apologise to those customers affected for any inconvenience caused during the issuing of new passwords. Fasthosts is fully confident that, in completing all remaining password changes as described, this will prevent any future disruption or concern. We thank customers for their understanding and cooperation,” Fasthosts said. Related articles Related links |
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