Web-hosting firm and domain registrar GoDaddy has revealed that it has suffered cyber-attack which saw a hacker gain access to details of over one million customers.
GoDaddy revealed that it had discovered on November 17 2021 that an “unauthorized third party” had managed to gain access to its managed hosting environment.
GoDaddy is a system used by millions of website owners around the world as a backend for their websites and blogs. To make administration for site owners easier, many companies – like GoDaddy – offer a managed hosting platform to handle automated backups, and automatic security updates.
At DMC Consultancy, we noticed these hackings and breaches occurring so, as a precaution we purchased our own server and are in the process of moving all of our clients on to it for an elevated sense of security. Our aim is to make sure our clients and their information is safe and secure, eliminating them from the line of fire of cyber-attacks.
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As in many other data breaches, a password seems to have been central to the attack. It is not clear whether the password fell into the hands of the cybercriminal as the result of a phishing attack, or because it was weak.
The attack is said to have begun on September 6 2021, and saw the hacker steal information related to “up to 1.2 million active and inactive Managed WordPress customers.” These users had their email address and customer number exposed, giving cybercriminals an opportunity to launch targeted phishing attacks.
On top of this, users were warned that their sFTP and database usernames and passwords were exposed (GoDaddy says it has reset both), and a subset of users additionally have had their SSL (HTTPS) private keys exposed, which could enable a cybercriminal to impersonate a website.
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GoDaddy spoke on the attack stating “We are sincerely sorry for this incident and the concern it causes for our customers. We, GoDaddy leadership and employees, take our responsibility to protect our customers’ data very seriously and never want to let them down,” said GoDaddy’s Chief Information Security Officer Demetrius Comes. “We will learn from this incident and are already taking steps to strengthen our provisioning system with additional layers of protection.”
If you have any concerns regarding any elements of your online security and email security please contact us for a consultation.
DMC Consultancy is leading web designer, app developer, and digital marketing company in Ireland. we can advise you on the best solution for your business.