Recent investigations revealed that several renowned universities, including UC Berkeley, Columbia University, and Washington University in St. Louis, have been compromised, leading to the distribution of pornographic material and malicious links. Researchers uncovered that numerous subdomains, such as those associated with these institutions, were hijacked by scammers exploiting inadequate administrative practices. For instance, links like hXXps://causal.stat.berkeley.edu/ymy/video/xxx-porn-girl-and-boy-ej5210.html and hXXps://conversion-dev.svc.cul.columbia.edu/brazzers-gym-porn have been identified as sources of explicit content. The issue arises from the failure to properly manage CNAME records for decommissioned subdomains, allowing malicious actors, specifically a group known as Hazy Hawk, to take control of these outdated records. This oversight has resulted in hundreds of subdomains across at least 34 universities being misused, with search engines revealing thousands of compromised pages. The situation underscores the importance of diligent site management to protect institutional reputations.
Top Universities' Websites Compromised by Adult Content
Prestigious university websites have been found serving explicit content due to poor site management practices.
3 min readTechnology