News website shuts down after hack sends 'obscene and racist' notifications to iPhones

A enterprise information outlet mentioned it quickly shut down its web site after a hacker accessed the web site and despatched "obscene and racist" notifications to iPhone customers.

Quick Firm, a business-focused information outlet, introduced Tuesday night that its content material administration system had been hacked and that two offensive messages containing the N-word and graphic language had been despatched to followers utilizing the Apple News app inside a minute. The corporate responded by taking down its web site and disabling the Apple News feed whereas it investigates the safety breach.

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"The messages are vile and usually are not in step with the content material and ethos of Quick Firm," the corporate mentioned in a assertion tweeted. "We're investigating the state of affairs and have shut down FastCompany.com till the state of affairs has been resolved."

The web site remains to be down as of Wednesday morning.

The corporate later clarified that the hack adopted one other reportedly associated hack of its web site, through which equally offensive language appeared on the web site's entrance web page. Quick Firm responded to the hack by shutting the location down for 2 hours.

The notifications had been posted in screenshots on Twitter. It is not clear who despatched the obscene notifications, though one of many notifications added that "Thrax was right here," in keeping with MarketWatch. It's unclear who Thrax is.

The hacker posted a message on Quick Firm earlier than the web site was taken down detailing how she or he broke into the web site, in keeping with Engadget. The hacker mentioned the corporate had a default password that was simple to crack. The weak password allowed the hacker to steal authentication tokens, Apple News API keys, and different particulars concerning the workers. "Thrax" later posted on a discussion board that she or he supposed to launch a database containing 6,737 worker information, together with emails, password hashes, and unpublished drafts.

Apple News additionally confirmed that it has shut down Quick Firm's channel in the meanwhile.