The Daily Express website has fallen victim to a cyber attack in which reader profiles have been taken over by masses of sex spam, displaying lewd and suggestive material.
The MyExpress service is designed to give readers their own “personal profile on the Daily Express website”, enabling them to organise their comments and other activities. It is a free service that allows readers to interact with the website and other MyExpress users, as well as customise the website in a variety of ways.
But the profiles have been effectively buried under a vast amount of explicit material, including such posts as “pregnant sluts masterbating” and “sarah michelle gellar haveing sex”.
And, although the damage appears to have been limited to sleazy material alone – without the web-links which normally accompany such practices – it is a highly embarrassing for the media owner. It also calls into question its web policy and how stringent the Express is in policing its site.
No one was available for comment as DecisionMarketing went to press.
The Daily Express is the flagship title of Express Newspapers, and owned by Richard Desmond. As of September 2010, it has a circulation of 659,650. Express Newspapers also publishes the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday.
