The secretive hacking group known as OurMine sabotaged BuzzFeed’s website and changed “several posts” on Oct. 5, BuzzFeed reported yesterday.
According to BuzzFeed, the hacking followed a BuzzFeed’s report that outed one of the group’s members. That article, published Oct. 4, was headlined “This Saudi Teen is Probably Behind the Hacks of Dozens of Tech CEOs and Celebrities.”
That article was replaced with a note reading, “Hacked by OurMine team, don’t share fake news about us again, we have your database. Next time it will be public. Don’t f**k with OurMine again,” New York Magazine reported. An archive is here.
OurMine is a “three-person hacking team” that has hacked high-profile figures in tech and other celebrities that has existed for a few years, Mic reported. According to Mic:
“OurMine told Mic in private messages that when it first started hacking accounts, it would get in, cull private data and store information. Now, it has rebranded as a ‘security group,’ claiming to only hack people in order to promote security and its own service, leaving behind a benign public message encouraging people to ‘upgrade’ or ask it for help.”
iMediaEthics contacted BuzzFeed for more information about the hack and to find out how many articles were affected. The latest, BuzzFeed’s Christina DiRusso wrote, is in BuzzFeed’s Oct. 5 tweet reading:
“The hacking group OurMine Wednesday altered several posts on BuzzFeed.com after a BuzzFeed News article reported that a Saudi teenager is most likely behind scores of hacks of tech CEOs and celebrities. BuzzFeed News is working to restore the altered articles, including the original report on the group.”
iMediaEthics has written to the BuzzFeed reporter for comment as well.
UPDATED: 10/6/2016 8:02 PM EST