Hackers hit MacRumors keynote coverage

(Credit: Topherchris.com)

Some nasty pranksters, likely associated with Web forum 4Chan, have hacked into Apple gossip mainstay MacRumors' live-blog coverage of Tuesday's Macworld keynote. Hosted on a separate domain, MacRumorsLive.com, the site was plagued by offensive messages about Apple CEO Steve Jobs' health and general inanity (i.e. "SEX ME") before finally succumbing to "technical difficulties."

It remains uncertain whether the pranksters actually brought down the site, or whether MacRumors voluntarily took it down to keep things under control.

It's pretty clear, however, that this was the work of 4Chan, which has gained both respect and notoriety (depending on who you ask) over the past year for its persistent protests against the controversial Scientology sect in the form of an offshoot group called "Anonymous."

Over on 4Chan's labyrinthine forums, a couple of threads (warning: contains explicit language) hint at members' collusion to take down MacRumors Live, and the hacked live blog was peppered with declarations of "4CHAN FTW" (that's "for the win," for those who stepped in late).

This year's Macworld Expo has gained particular attention because Apple has announced that it's the last in which it will have a presence. Additionally, iconic CEO Steve Jobs bowed out of the keynote presentation. Marketing executive Phil Schiller took his place.

The 4Chan skulduggery appears to have first been noticed by Twitter users and independent blogs like Topherchris.com, which took the screenshot above.

One Twitter user pointed to rumors on social-news site Digg that 4Chan members had been circulating MacRumors passwords on Monday night.

It's a silly prank, yes. But it could have a big impact on MacRumors: this is likely the site's biggest day of the year, and the event could have an impact on both ad revenues and server costs.

UPDATE: It's not totally clear who's actually responsible for this attack. We've been getting a handful of e-mails indicating that it may have been a non-4chan group called Myg0t that was using the 4chan forums to organize, and another e-mail claimed credit on behalf of another forum community, Ebaumsworld. Indeed, screenshots show that one of the hacker messages read, "We are from Ebaumsworld. We are hackers on steroids."

Honestly? The world may never know.

This post was updated at 2:13 p.m. PT.

[LifeStar]

Yup, I logged into macrumorslive.com so I can eat lunch and read the updates. Curious if this is the first time macrumors have been hacked this? They didn't seem prepared for this type of attack and had to resort to pulling the plug on the whole thing, which was unfortunate.

[M C]

4chan'ers = attention ******. Well known on the intertubes. I'm sure they thank CNet for the coverage.

[kevsmail]

Hilarious.

Plus MacRumors just got some free advertising.

[UnnDunn]

Saying MacRumors was "hacked" is like saying someone "broke into" a fridge.

They left their Admin folder wide open with no password or any sort of security whatsoever. Maybe they believed the hype about how "Macs get no viruses"... In any case, they got EXACTLY what they deserved for being so lax with security.

[jinx101a]

Too funny, and, probably true. Even if it's not a desktop Mac, this just illustrates that the do nothing about security mentality is the wrong approach.

[ca5ter]

Yeah, there is nothing like making fun of a small news/blog site run by a couple of guys that most likely have to work another job. How lame. it's not like they hacked CNET. Mac Rumors is a great resource.

[biffhenerson]

As perhaps the most popular rumor, the statement certanly deserves to appear on macrumorslive.com. After all, the purpose of this site IS rumors. If we accept the fact that the statement has previously appeared on "news" sites, it certainly can appear on a rumor site. Hardly a noteworthy hack.

[ferretboy88]

Were they using Apple computers and servers? I thought they couldn't be hacked? Nothing is safe.

[Mr. Dee]

Their coverage is always lousy, immediately switched to Engadget. They can't even take good photos.

[Michichael]

I'm sorry but giving credit to "Anonymous" and the rest of 4Chan by calling them hackers is pretty deceptive. They're nothing but loudmouthed script kiddies using the latest exploit kits to attack people that know nothing about patch management or information security.

It's like watching one puppy chew on another puppies ear and calling the pet shop a vicious dogfighting ring.

[Watashi_wa_Kira_desu]

Don't you mean
"A bunch of 15yo kids yelling desu and **** at each other"?

[thelemurking]

"Don't you mean
"A bunch of 15yo kids yelling desu and **** at each other"?"

Don't forget TlTS OR ****!


And what's this about patch management? Surely you are not implying that the admins of site like MacRumors doesn't know anything about patches or security.

[Michichael]

That is my contention exactly, good sir!

[seven7dust]

it's sad ! I was there... why waste time spreading a lie that nobody believed n e way
I switched to TDLlive immediately much better coverage !

but Macworld '09' in general sucked ! and this was the icing on the cake
wat a waste of my time... Apple kinda pisses me of sometimes

[ittesi259]

Macworld isn't an Apple event anyway, its not put on by them, they are, or were, a participant....learn the facts before you gripe.

[bob1xxxx]

yawn LOL!

[ericbaumann]

This was the work of the hacking Juggernaughts at Ebaumsworld.