Threat Management, Vulnerability Management

Hacker group Pyknic defaces NBC, Lady Gaga sites

A hacker collective calling itself “Pyknic” defaced several pages on NBC.com, and claimed it leaked user account info from NBC's online forum. The group even took to a Lady Gaga fan site to carry out further vandalism.

Defaced on Sunday, NBC's home page was affected, as well as web page for Saturday Night Live and other show pages and sections on the website. 

GagaDaily, the fan site for singer Lady Gaga targeted by Pyknic, was restored later Sunday, along with NBC.com. Lady Gaga tweeted about the site issue on Sunday, saying her "techies" were called and that "help is on the way."

The defacements caused the targeted sites to display a darkened screen with a red message that read: “Remember, remember the fifth of November,” referencing Guy Fawkes Day. The Nov. 5 date commemorates the capture of the British revolutionary who plotted to blow up the House of Lords.

Hacktivist group Anonymous has also used the Guy Fawkes image, like the masks worn in "V for Vendetta" as its group symbol, though one of the collective's most reliable Twitter accounts denied any responsibility or affiliation with the NBC incident. It did not address the Lady Gaga vandalism.

“No, Anonymous did not attack, hack or deface NBC,” said the message tweeted on Sunday.

An NBC Universal spokesman told SCMagazine.com Monday in an email that the “sites were not hacked,” but defaced, despite claims by Pyknic that user information was exposed and “passwords dumped.”

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