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Dutch DigiNotar Servers Were Fully Hacked
ChristW writes "The final report that was handed to the Dutch government today indicates that all 8 certificate servers of the Dutch company DigiNotar were fully hacked. (Report PDF in English.) Because the access log files were stored on the same servers, they cannot be used to find any evidence for or against intrusion. In fact, blatant falsification has been found in those log files. A series of so-far unused certificates has also been found. It is unknown if and where these certificates have been used."
It's always a dangerous assumption to make; but architecturally the concept of 'partially hacked' isn't terribly nonsensical. Consider the enormous number of web server setups where OS-level credentials and web application authentication are entirely different things. It happens all the time that kiddies will crack the web component and scribble all over your php forum or CMS or whatnot; but without ever gaining access to the OS.
You really don't want to work on the assumption that 'eh, I'm sure we were only partially hacked, no need to reinstall the OS'; but it may well often be true.