SpreadFirefox.com hackers wanted to use it to spam

SpreadFirefox.com hackers wanted to use it to spam

Mozilla Foundation recently announced that their Firefox promoting marketing website SpreadFirefox.com was attacked by hackers who somehow got in making use of vulnerability in the CMS package used by the site. The site has a user base of more than a lakh users who have their personal information like passwords and email ids stored on the server of the site.

This attempt opened up the possibilities of potential stealing of user information from the servers. However, the organization believes that the purpose of the malicious hackers was something else. Site manager Asa Dotzler on Friday posted a message on the site: “It appears that a part of SpreadFirefox was hacked in an attempt to use it to send out spam. It doesn’t look like the attacker accessed any personal data on the site, but to be safe, we’re encouraging all of our users to log in and change their passwords.”

The message was also sent to all the registered members on their emails advising them to change their passwords on the website along with all the other sites where the users have used the same password. They also assured the users that the site has been patched up and there are no possible avenues for a further hacking attempt.

Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox spoke to a media group and claimed that this is not a lonely incident of a high profile website being hacked. In fact, many such popular websites have suffered similar fates in the past. Mozdev.org, the Mozilla development site was also hacked earlier this year. All these reports have led to fears amongst users considering one of the biggest USP of the Mozilla Foundation is that their products are secure and safer than the competing products.