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EA games web server was hosting PHISHING SITE – securobod

Old vulnerable software gave hackers a way in, claims researcher

An Electronic Arts server was hacked and used to host a phishing site targeting Apple ID holders, according to internet security firm Netcraft.

The site has since been pulled down and EA has told various news sites that it is "investigating" the report.

Netcraft security expert Paul Mutton posted on the company's blog that the server was used by two websites in the ea.com domain, and usually hosted a calendar based on an old piece of software that contained several security vulnerabilities which have since been sorted out - WebCalendar 1.2.0.

"It is likely that one of these vulnerabilities was used to compromise the server, as the phishing content is located in the same directory as the WebCalendar application," he said.

Mutton said the phishing site attempted to get victims to sign in with their Apple ID and password and then verify their name, card number, expiry date, verification code, date of birth, phone number, mother's maiden name and basically every piece of info necessary to completely steal a person's identity.

If the poor victim got that far, they were then redirected to the legitimate Apple ID site, potentially none the wiser, he claimed.

Mutton said that companies who left old pieces of software hanging around on their servers were asking for trouble.

"The mere presence of old software can often provide sufficient incentive for a hacker to target one system over another, and to spend more time looking for additional vulnerabilities," he said.

Dwayne Melancon, CTO of security software firm Tripwire, said that businesses weren't doing enough to ensure that these sorts of vulnerabilities were shut down.

"We regularly see attackers take advantage of neglected, abandoned, or unpatched applications running on company infrastructure. This is interesting in that it is a problem that we know how to solve but enterprises just aren’t taking the necessary precautions," he said.

It's unclear how long the phishing site was active on Electronic Arts' server or how many people might have been tricked into handing over their Apple IDs. ®

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