BuzzFeed Vandalized By Hackers in Retaliation for Exposé

A number of BuzzFeed posts have been hacked and vandalized by OurMine, a hacker collective known for breaking into the social media accounts of CEOs and celebrities under the pretense of “testing” their security. The attack was apparently retaliation for a BuzzFeed story exposing an alleged Saudi member of OurMine.

Several affected posts had their titles altered to read “HACKED BY OURMINE – Ourmine.org,” and had their bodies replaced with text advising BuzzFeed not to “share fake news about us again.” OurMine also claimed to have taken control of BuzzFeed’s “database” though they weren’t forthcoming about the information allegedly contained within it.

BuzzFeed responded to the hack on Twitter, noting that “the hacking group OurMine altered several posts” on the site following BuzzFeed’s reporting on the group. The affected posts were quickly removed by BuzzFeed and are currently up in their original form.

According to The Verge, OurMine initially denied that the Saudi teenager was a member of their group, although the attack seems to suggest otherwise.

OurMine gained infamy when it took control of accounts of the CEOs of Google, Facebook, and Twitter, sometimes taking the opportunity to advertise their “security testing” services which will run you around $5,000 a pop, if you want to have hackers rummaging around your private information. The group also broke into Variety’s website last year and sent out a newsletter to subscribers trumpeting their exploits.