GoDaddy, one of the largest hosting providers on the Internet, has suffered a security breach.
According to a report filed with the SEC, an attacker had access to over 1 million email addresses belonging to active and inactive users of the company’s managed WordPress service,
The company says the attacker gained access to a provisioning system (intended to automatically establish and configure new sites when customers create them) in early September. “Using a compromised password.”
GoDaddy says he noticed the invasion November 17th and immediately blocked the attacker before initiating an investigation and contacting the authorities. “The compromised password gave the attacker access to emails and more”
Attackers had access to more than just email addresses– They were also able to see the original WordPress admin passwords set by the provider, as well as the Active user database credentials and sFTP systems.
The company also says that some customers had their private SSL keys exposed, who are responsible for proving that a site is who it claims to be.
GoDaddy is resetting affected passwords and regenerating security certificates if necessary. The company also says it is “Contact all affected customers directly with specific details”.