Irish internet community site Boards.ie is currently down following an attack on its database that included outside access to members’ usernames, email addresses and obfuscated passwords.
In a statement on the site, co-founder Tom Murphy said that this morning the database server was accessed by an “unauthorised source” from outside Ireland and that both the Gardaí and the Data Protection Commissioner as well as an independent security consultancy have been consulted.
“Like all large sites, we are regularly the target for disruption and take continual actions to proactively protect your data.,” said Murphy.
“This particular attack was completely unprecedented despite our rigorous security measures and while we have no idea if this data will be used for any malicious reasons, we felt it vital to tell you this immediately.”
Murphy advised Boards.ie members to change their passwords on other web services if they were using the same password with Boards.ie and explained it has already altered all passwords on the site despite the fact that they are already stored in a vBulletin hash as opposed to plain text.
Boards.ie employees are manning the official Twitter account presently and addressing member queries and concerns.
By Marie Boran
