Earlier today, we posted an article noting that popular local entertainment blog Zimbo Jam, had been hacked. The website has since been fixed, but it turns out they were not the only website on the server that was hacked. Another local website herzimbabwe.co.zw, was also hacked. The information was availed to us via our Facebook page after we posted the Zimbo Jam news.
Her Zimbabwe was hacked by the same hackers that hit Zimbo Jam, and according to the Her Zimbabwe founder, Fungai Machirori, the website is hosted on the same server. Her Zimbabwe also uses the Joomla content management system. So far the website has not been fixed as it still shows the hacker’s page.
Her Zimbabwe is dedicated to discussing and articulating Zimbabwean women’s issues and experiences. It was launched in March this year.
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Big wake up call to us to beef up our online security. Hacktivists are using all the ground they can find to get their messages out. We are trying to get this sorted out ASAP.
There is a difference between a hacktivist and being a cracker my friend. This might give you a better picture – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_541KmGxGs
FanBoyKiller, “Hacktivism is the act of hacking, or breaking into a computer system, for a politically or socially motivated purpose”
How is this different since this is a Palestinian resistance group?
I do not see any political or socially motivated reason to hack a Zimbabwean website discussing women’s issues and experiences especially if they are “Palestinian resistance group”, as you put it. This is unlike Egypt 2011 when hacktivists hacked sites belonging to Egypt’s cabinet, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology as a protest after internet in the country was cut off. I don’t see how this is similar. If you beg to differ, please elaborate
FanBoyKiller, hacktivism is hacktivism. You are digressing from what it means. And since it was the server that was hacked, it could be they were targeting some other sites hosted on it. And hacktivism does not have to be on the scale of an Egyptian revolution to be considered such. It is using vulnerable channels to get word – any word to anyone – out.
No this is not hacktivism
Its not hactivism
on the contrary, its the shitty hosting company, they need to fix their servers, hence why tech zim has not been hacked, because its hosted on a secure server
I had no reason to believe that it was not a secure server but now I am aware, it is important to take steps. It is all a wake up call! Also a call to look into which CMS might be better for us a growing and learning platform.
it’s always a matter of time. cat and mouse this. The unscrupulous always ahead
I guess they didn’t expect something hosted in Germany would get hacked, huh?
The problem is that your hosting company is very unsecure, im just guessing, but i reckon that you use the same guys who are alwaaaaaaaaaays getting hacked… why, cos their servers are old, outdated and unsecure. Why doesnt techzim get hacked, because they use south african servers (to my knowledge)… time to change your hosting company if you dont want this to happen. If the trend continues, it wont be long till zimbo kitchen is down as well.
Which is this same guys who are alwaaaaaaays getting hacked? LOL looking for stories …
Wow
Why would any “hacktivist” target these ‘benign’ portals?
It was the server that was the target. Unless one knows which other sites are hosted on that server, we cannot consider it so benign.
True that. Hope it’s fixed soon. No place for cyberterrorists here! All the best… And Merry Xmas:-)
all these recent hacks are not because of Joomla CMS but because the servers hosting them are unsecure. To bring your site back to normal just replace the index.php with any stock index.php of the version of Joomla you’re using in most cases in Zim its Joomla 1.5
Wrong.
Read this. And this is just ONE vector of recent attacks.
http://www.hyphenet.com/blog/2012/12/13/hackers-use-exploit-tool-to-compromise-joomla-and-wordpress-websites/
Also, these attacks take many different forms, and just replacing index.php isn’t always the solution. Sometimes it’s .htaccess or php.ini that’s compromised, or it could be index.php in the template (Joomla) or theme (WordPress) directory that’s buggered.
Knowledge is power.
still server issues. how do you access .htaccess or php.ini through joomla
You don’t have to, if either the root or template folder has 777 (public write access) set on it, through either FTP or hosting control panel access.
That’s not a server issue, is it? That’s pure PEBKAC.
The main issue, I think, is a lack of knowledge re security. Generally.
yes exactly pebkac!