YNOT – A teenage hacker claiming allegiance to notorious cyber-mischief-making group Anonymous took responsibility for a breach of the user database at adult website Brazzers.com late last week. The 17-year-old Moroccan told The Associated Press he accomplished the feat and later posted site members’ details on the internet in order to prove how vulnerable such sites can be.
The hacker may have broken into a database containing more than 350,000 names, email addresses, usernames and passwords belonging to members and former members through JuggNetwork.com, an online forum that links to several adult websites owned by Brazzers parent company Manwin. The forum was never completed and lay fallow, according to Manwin spokeswoman Kate Miller.
Miller also said no credit card data was compromised, but users who may have been affected by the hack attack are being notified. In some cases, the information leaked online could be extrapolated to infer members’ full real names and country of residence.
“Security is a priority at all times, and we will ensure that all measures are taken to safeguard the integrity and non-disclosure of any information related to our users,” Miller noted in a prepared statement released to the media on Saturday. “Affected members are being alerted of the security breach and assured that their billing and credit card information remains protected. We are also recreating memberships for those who prefer to cancel their original account. In addition, they have been given free memberships to Brazzers.com sister site Mofos.com, and offered discounted memberships to other Manwin-owned exclusive websites.
“In this day and age, security breaches happen at the highest levels of government and in various types of businesses,” the statement continued. “Since 2001, The Convention on Cybercrime prohibits and protects against such acts. Just like all other international corporations and organizations, Manwin and its brands are committed to the Convention and will collaborate with authorities to prevent and prosecute such activities.
“We consider this a cyber criminal act and are currently investigating the situation through appropriate international channels.”
Luxembourg-based Manwin may be the biggest single operator of adult websites in the world, claiming to receive more than 60 million unique visitors to its network daily, but it is hardly the only powerful or most controversial target to find itself in Anonymous’ sights. The international group’s self-stated mission is to force the free flow of information through acts of civil disobedience.
Often called cyber-terrorists, Anonymous’ affiliates have shut down websites belonging to the CIA, the FBI, the Tunisian and Egyptian governments, the Church of Scientology, and bigotry-mongers Westboro Baptist Church and Stormfront. Anonymous affiliates also claimed responsibility for releasing online stolen information they claimed proved Bank of America is a wholesale agent of corruption and mortgage fraud. The organization has threatened to act in support of Wikileaks and the Occupy movement.
