Melbourne IT chief executive Theo Hnarakis will step down by the end of year after more than a decade as CEO according to afr.com
The move comes on the day that it appears hackers associated with the Syrian Electronic Army Group hackers gained access the New York Times and Twitter amongst others although Melbourne IT who hosted the websites domain names.
However, the story did not mention the hacking incident but the timing is hard to overlook.
The story quotes the Melbourne IT chairman Simon Jones as saying “During [Mr Hnarakis’] tenure as CEO, shareholders have enjoyed an annualised total shareholder return of 40 per cent per year. “The board of Melbourne IT would like to thank Theo for his exceptional contribution, huge energy and passion for the business.”
Hundreds of publications have covered the story about the sites being taken down by the Syrian group including usatoday.com, PcWorld.com, and Forbes.com Melbourne IT cited as the weak link in the hacking.
According to Tony Smith, general manager of corporate communications at Melbourne IT; The credentials of a Melbourne IT reseller (username and password) were used to access a reseller account on Melbourne IT’s systems, The DNS records of several domain names on that reseller account were changed, including nytimes.com.”
I’m trying to figure this out. I know Melbourne IT sold off its Digital Brand and Domain Services Unit earlier this year. I would assume Twitter, NYTimes, etc. would be part of that.
So was it the CSC’s Melbourne IT group or what’s left of the Australian registrar that was compromised?
If anyone knows, please chime in. I left a message with CSC this morning.
I wrote to my two contacts at CSC as well
Makes sense Andrew. BTW, nice job Theo on a great run at MIT. Aside from the amazing 40% annualized returns, you brought a lot of class and honor to the industry.
Theo – Where are you headed ??
What will you do Next ??
Share Your LinkedIn and FB Links (please&TY)
~Patricia Kaehler – Ohio USA – DomainBELL
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