Korean MSN Site Hacked

An anonymous reader writes "CNN is reporting that MSN's Korean website was hacked in order to allow usernames and passwords to be stolen. Microsoft is initially blaming unpatched, outsourced servers. Just another embarrassment to Microsoft's security push."

Comments

Please get some journalistic integrity...

[Anonymous Coward]

Please slashdot, you're not doing any justice by harping on Microsoft. Your bias is just disgusting. Why don't you post one of the 1,000,000 Linux defacements or break-ins that happen monthly?

And I know I'm posting Anonymously. I don't have an account nor do I care to create one at your site until you stop being the Fox Network equivalent for Tech News.

Re:Please get some journalistic integrity...

[superpulpsicle]

Are you implying it's okay for Windows to be hacked 20 times if Linux is also hacked 20 times?

If Linux has vulnerabilities, then Windows have even less excuse as a billion dollar corporation.

Re:Please get some journalistic integrity...

[X.25]

Here is a list of appoximately 325 Linux based web sites that were defaced today.

Yeah, so? This isn't about what OS is hacked, but what system. And MSN is *big* (MSN passwords can be used for many things).

If linux.com got hacked, it wouldn't matter, since it holds exactly 0 important things for a hacker. They would deface it.

But MSN KR was not defaced, they subtly placed code in order to specifically get passwords.

Quite different than placing "0wned!" message on a front page.

Microsoft doesn't deserve this criticism

[typical]

"CNN is reporting that MSN's Korean website was hacked in order to allow usernames and passwords to be stolen. Microsoft is initially blaming unpatched, outsourced servers. Just another embarrassment to Microsoft's security push."

Yes, Microsoft has a good deal of well-deserved bad karma. That you could consider this to be a failing of their software is ridiculous, though. If this is an embarassment to Microsoft, many Free, Open software packages of every sort, from Apache to Linux to OpenBSD to OpenSSH have been so embarassed.

I'm all for calling out Microsoft when they're (a) full of marketing bullshit, (b) way behind everyone else technically, and (c) playing dirty politics. They deserve to be criticized then. But this is simply a non-event. They had a website get cracked. Big deal. Heck, Sourceforge, the largest repository of Open Source software, has been cracked multiple times, if you want an Open Source counterpart.

Blame Microsoft when they deserve it, and your words will get more weight. If Oracle had run out and said that "Our database is hacker-proof", and the next day their website had been broken into and their database cracked, that would be a fair point to criticize someone. But simply "you had a website cracked" is no longer a big deal for most companies.

Re:Microsoft doesn't deserve this criticism

[Tim C]

So what? It most certainly is representative of the FOSS movement. It's built entirely using FOSS apps, it's (one of) the main repositories for FOSS projects, and as such is extremely high profile.

You don't just get to say "yeah, but that's not how you'd normally create a website!", because that's how it was *chosen* to be created.

Outsourcing

[stox]

I am sorry, Microsoft, but I don't give a damn that you outsourced your servers. The customer is buying your name and reputation when they buy your product. So, you may have saved money on the bottom line, but you have squandered trust the consumer had for you. At some point in the future, you will realize what a valuable commodity this was and how expensive it is to re-acquire.

Re:wipe and reload?

[TCM]

I got $5 that says this translates to "formatted and reinstalled the OS..."

Well, what would you do?