The website of the Kharkiv-based news outlet Gwara has been restored following the 12 August hacker attack, chief editor Serhiy Prokopenko reported to the Institute of Mass Information’s regional representative Yulia Napolska.
Prokopenko said that the unauthorised interference resulted in the website not displaying the outlet’s material and instead redirecting users to a third-party page. As of today, the website is back up and running. The team is investigating the incident.
Issues with the website began around 1:30 pm on 12 August, and it later stopped opening altogether. The attack lasted around 13 hours in total.
Serhiy explained that the experts looking into the incident found many malicious PHP files on the server, which allowed the attackers to access the site and upload additional malicious code. Certain WordPress system files had also been altered.
The website has been restored from backups. According to Prokopenko, none of the outlet’s data or content was lost.
The Gwara team is now analysing the causes and circumstances of the attack. The outlet notes that the security protocols in place and the work of its tech support team helped restore the website.
IMI reported on the hacker attack targeting the Gwara website earlier.
