Hackers Infiltrate US Government's National Vulnerability Database

CREDIT: Dreamstime.com

Tech News Daily - In what can only be described as an astounding instance of irony, the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) has fallen victim to a security vulnerability. The site, which exists to inform the American populace about potential software security threats, has been hacked and infected with malware, bringing it offline until further notice. Kim Halavakoski, a Finnish security expert, discovered this information when he noticed the site was down, and sent an email to investigate. Gail Porter, a public inquiries officer for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, replied:

“The National Vulnerability Database public-facing website and several other NIST-hosted websites are currently unavailable due to a discovery of malware on two NIST Web servers,” wrote Porter. The NIST discovered oddities in its firewall on March 8, and brought its servers offline shortly thereafter.

Luckily for Halavakoski and others who frequent the site, there is no reason to believe that any of this malware made its way to users. Still, given how valuable a resourcethe NVD is to those who work in IT security, the site’s absence, as well as its murky restoration date, could still prove problematic. [See also: 10 Ways the Government Watches You]

About these ads