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OSNews Suffered 'Likely' Data Breach, Contemplated Going Offline Permanently (osnews.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the behind-the-scenes dept.

hmckee writes: OSNews was offline for a few days for upgrades. It is now back up with a message that indicates they encountered a data breach and considered going offline for good due to maintenance and financial difficulties. "Our best guess is that someone was able to exploit a vulnerability in old, unmaintained code in the site's content management system, and made off with at least some user data, which may be as little as a few user records or, at worst, our entire database," writes Publisher David Adams. "Your email addresses were in there, and the encryption on the passwords wasn't up to modern standards (unsalted SHA1). [...] Other than potential spam, though, we're not aware of any other nefarious use of your data, we don't store much beyond email addresses and passwords..."

David goes on to cite poor advertising revenues and a lack of time for reasons to throw in the towel and go offline permanently.

20 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Who? by GarySalter · · Score: 1

    Donâ(TM)t be idiotic, osnews has been a great source of information on those things concerning operating systems news and all that type stuff....I will miss them greatly!!!

  2. Re: Who? by barc0001 · · Score: 1

    So when is Slashdot going to seriously consider removing AC posting?

  3. Re:Who? by Ecuador · · Score: 1

    Unlike slashdot, I actually got coverage for my OS project there years before my name ever appeared on slashdot.

    Pro Tip: Not posting as AC would have probably helped...

    Slashdot still gets around to publishing most OS news. Albeit a few days late and then on repeat ;)

    --
    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
  4. Hackers are after User Ids and passwords by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    that they can use on other sites when folks reuse them.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Hackers are after User Ids and passwords by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      This!. OSNews just said dismissed everyone by saying "It's okay, we only lost your most valuable data".

  5. Great shame by rl117 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've been reading OSNews for almost as long as I've been reading slashdot. It has always been more of a niche site, solely focused upon operating systems-related news, but within that niche it has had a better focus on relevant articles, better editing, and a higher quality of comments given the smaller and more dedicated userbase. I'd have to say, based upon the terrible comments so far on this story, that the quality of slashdot comments has seriously declined over the last few years. They are basically all worthless so far, and it's sad that clueless and disrespectful trolling is all that the slashdot community can come up with for the possible passing OSNews, a minor but worthy high quality competitor for many years.

    1. Re:Great shame by Opyros · · Score: 1

      I dunno, though; in recent years, many of the stories haven't really been about OSes, but about specific software projects and such things. There just doesn't seem to be as much news about OS development as there used to be.

    2. Re:Great shame by twosat · · Score: 1

      I have been reading it for about as long as I have been reading Slashdot too. I usually check it a few times per week. Lately, I have noticed that often there are very few comments posted for an article; it is not uncommon to see fewer than 10 comments posted.

  6. I remember that site by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I quit reading it a few years ago when it became "Thom's iPhone news" or "Thom's Macbook" news. If it wasn't one of those, it was so Euro-centric that it just wasn't interesting.

    If only it actually was OS news.

    1. Re: I remember that site by peragrin · · Score: 2

      Not reply Thom is a hypocrite. Never practices what he preaches. He would rail agsinist apple and iOS, or macos , and then mention how he loves his iPhone.

      Got into an argument that 10 years ago with Thom and stopped reading. Came back every once in a while to see 10 day old reports of arstechinca articles. And 1-3 comments.

      The bigger issue is it is Thom baby and he can't write, review or articulate.

      Sad to see it go but it is time.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
  7. Re: Who? by aliquis · · Score: 1

    It's like 15 years maybe older site about OS and technology development.

    But you've actually have to care and have an interest of such thing to have visited them.

    I don't see how it's very relevant you don't care or know about them because clearly you're not one of us.

  8. What other sites can sustain a geek? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Slashdot, OSnews, and Hackaday are part of my daily routine.

    I love OSNews. What more can I say.

    Is there a site i should be adding to the mix? Arstechnica is great, but it doesn't have enough daily content until one of the others sites link to an article.

  9. One way to improve osnews by mikesum32 · · Score: 3, Informative

    IMHO, one way to improve osnews is to bring back Eugenia Loli- Queru.

    I didn't always agree with her, but she was a damn-fine read.

    1. Re:One way to improve osnews by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Oh wow, I haven't heard that name in a long time. Her husband (John Baptiste Queru?) was a rockstar ninja 10x BeOS engineer.. She out nerded him.

  10. Hosts file by raymorris · · Score: 1

    Let's put that to the test. Let's see the quality of comments we get.

    1. Re:Hosts file by IWantMoreSpamPlease · · Score: 1

      I'd say you got your answer, judging by the replies to your statement

      --
      So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
  11. Re:Who? by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

    Your name doesn't appear on Slashdot. Are you not understanding how the AC system works?

  12. Re: Who? by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

    I will miss them greatly!!!

    They considered shutting down. But they did not.. So you're kinda jumping the gun there...

  13. So we could see the quality discussion by raymorris · · Score: 1

    > Then why'd you post hosts file in YOUR subject line raymorris?

    I don't know if maybe you didn't see the message I posted? I said "Let's see the quality of comments we get." As you're certainly aware, hosts files have been discussed here once or twice. We're seeing the quality of comments we get.

  14. Mac has a trap for you re hosts file by raymorris · · Score: 1

    You may have already discovered this, but the Mac has some traps for you re the hosts file. You can put stuff in there and it seems to work for a while, then it stops working. To keep it working, you need to put the info in a different file.

    Or maybe I'm thinking of the resolver configuration. Anyway, check the docs - don't just experiment.