Stratfor Back Online; CEO Decries Hacking As Censorship

Intelligence analysis publisher Stratfor is back online (though their servers seem somewhat taxed at the moment), following a hack over Christmas which resulted in the theft of personal information, including credit card information, of some of the company’s subscribers. The company is providing identity theft protection for its affected customers through identity protection company CSID.

In a statement, the company said that that hackers not only stole customer information, but also “destroyed” the company’s servers. They’ve hired security firm Sec Theory to rebuild their internet infrastructure, and Verizon Wireless to conduct a forensic investigation of the hack.

The company also admitted that prior to the attack, it didn’t properly encrypt its customers’ credit card information. “We did not encrypt credit card files,” said CEO George Friedman.“This was our failure. As the CEO of Stratfor, I take responsibility. I deeply regret that this occurred and created hardship for our customers and friends.”