The PBS website was breached Saturday night by a group of attackers calling themselves ” LulzSec”. The group released usernames and hashed passwords for PBS website users and administrators, as well as login information and plain-text passwords for PBS affiliate TV stations.  The attackers also posted a fake news story, headlined “Tupac still alive in New Zealand,” alleging that rapper Tupac Shakur, who was killed in 1996, was in fact living in a small resort in New Zealand.

Similarly Lockheed Martin Corp’s network was recently compromised. Although it’s not clear what kind of data, if any, was stolen from  Lockheed, the companies’ networks house sensitive data on future weapons systems as well as military technology currently used in battles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lastly, weeks prior to PBS and Lockheed attacks, Sony’s Playstation Network was pierced. Information such as full names, passwords, email, home address, purchase history and even credit card numbers may have been accessed by the attackers.  Sony shut down their entire network (77 million accounts) for days to rectify the security breach.

Here at MTI, we continually stress the importance of network security. With the up rise in security breaches for major corporations the need for extra safeguards is paramount. While no security system is hacker-proof, taking the extra precautions to ensure that your system is patched, passwords are strong and backups are in place can help minimize the chances of an attack

Lastly, testing your safeguards is essential; we offer security audits in which we will test your system and pinpoint all areas of vulnerability. Contact MTI today to learn more.