Top US Government Research Lab Hacked

File this one under “really frickin’ scary” -

“Hackers successfully infiltrated Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), one of the nation’s leading government-run research facilities. The attackers gained access by sending e-mails infected with trojan horses to ORNL employees. The lab claims that no classified information was retrieved, but admits that the perpetrators managed to acquire a database containing personal information about ORNL visitors and employees, including Social Security numbers.

“A hacker illegally gained access to ORNL computers by sending staff e-mails that appeared to be official legitimate communications. When the employees opened the attachment or accessed an embedded link, the hacker planted a program on the employees’ computers that enabled the hacker to copy and retrieve information,” ORNL revealed in a statement. “No classified information was lost; However, visitor personal information may have been stolen. If you visited ORNL between the years 1990 and 2004, your name and other personal information, such as your Social Security number or date of birth, may have been part of the stolen information.” “

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