For the second time in three years, hackers have breached the security systems at The Washington Post.
The newspaper was alerted to the incursion on Wednesday from cybersecurity firm Mandiant, according to a report from the Post's own tech reporter, Craig Timber. The hackers were able to access employee user names and passwords, although details were not available on any lost data. The paper added that it had no reason to believe subscriber information, including credit card numbers, had been accessed.
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“This is an ongoing investigation, but we believe it was a few days at most,” says spokeswoman Kris Coratti in the Post's story.
It is the most serious security issue for the paper's website since 2011, when Chinese hackers gained access to "administrative passwords." The paper also suffered an attack by the Syrian Electronic Army in August that caused some stories to direct users to the group's website.
Wednesday's announcement was the most high-profile incident for The Washington Post since it was acquired by Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos for $250 million.
The Washington Post and Mandiant confirmed the details of its story but declined to provide additional details.
Image: Getty/Saul Loeb