The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a science and technology complex that houses one of the world’s fastest computers, was forced to suspend Internet access and e-mail capabilities for employees on Friday in response to what has been described as a targeted phishing attack, according to Computerworld.
Phishing e-mails disguised as communications from the laboratory’s HR department were sent to 573 employees, some which opened a link, unleashing data-mining malware.
The lab’s $104M Jaguar supercomputer appears to have been unaffected from the attack, which officials claimed targeted the lab’s business systems. Classified as an Advanced Persistent Threat by ORNL director Thom Mason in an interview with Knoxnews.com, the malware managed to exploit a zero-day hole in Internet Explorer.
