[ISN] Hacker's method found

[InfoSec News]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3074329a28,00.html

By MARY ANNE GILL
23 October 2004  

The hacker who got into Hamilton food company Aria Farm's website knew 
the password. 

Web host Ultimate Design of Hamilton says logs they produced a day 
after hackers got in to send out 3000 hoax emails saying Aria Farm's 
product was contaminated, clearly show an IP address and time the 
hacking took place. 

Systems engineer Chris Cunningham would not say when it was done other 
than it was last Saturday and it took the hacker very little time. The 
password was a default one, he said. 

IP addresses are a 32-bit numeric address written as four sets of 
numbers separated by periods. 

When you connect to the internet, you are assigned an IP address. This 
identifies your computer from others on the internet. 

The Waikato Times understands police now have a copy of that log and 
can identify where and who logged onto the site. 

Routers are needed to run computer systems on broadband. Most came 
from the factory with default passwords which are often never changed. 

Earlier this year Dennis Jones from Computer Troubleshooters in Te
Rapa estimated that 95 per cent of Hamilton routers were still sitting
on their default passwords.