A new report reveals how a hacker covertly took over a server at the BBC and tried selling access to it on Christmas. It isn’t known if the hacker was able to find any buyers who might have paid to gain access to BBC’s server, but the British public broadcaster’s security team was able to shut the hacker out and believes that it has secured the server, this according to a “person familiar with the cleanup effort” who spoke to Reuters. A spokesman for the broadcaster has denied to discuss the issue, saying that they don’t comment on security issues.
A cybersecurity firm based in Milwaukee, which keeps an eye on underground forums, was the first to identify the hack. They discovered that a hacker from Russia, going by the “HASH” and “Revolver” pseudonyms, tried selling access to the server on December 25th. The firm, Hold Security LLC, says that it hasn’t found any evidence which suggests that the hacker was able to find a buyer. While the hacker was only selling access to an obscure BBC ftp server, it may have served as a platform from which more damage could have been done, since its essentially a foot in the proverbial door. The hacker’s true identity is not known, so it can’t be said for sure if the person will ever get in trouble for their actions.