It seems that the folks at Spectrum Advisory Services Inc., manager of the Marathon Value Portfolio mutual fund (NASDAQ: MVPFX) were victims of malicious hackers who hacked into the third-party host server of the Fund’s website on June 30.
The fund’s website, along with other websites, had malware (malicious software used to disrupt computer operations) planted on the site, according to the firm. Users, who entered the site via a search on Google, immediately received a warning message about the pages of the site that were infected by the malware. Those using browsers, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, were restricted from entering the site; a normal occurrence when these browsers detect a virus or malware.
Since then, the malware has been removed from the fund’s website and the pages restored to normal. After an inspection of the corrected website, the restriction imposed by Internet Explorer was lifted. However, users of Firefox will continue to be restricted from entering the fund’s website for 90 days, according to the firm.
Mozilla’s 90-day restriction will end on September 30. In the meantime, Spectrum hopes that notification on its own website will steer Firefox users toward other ways of getting the Fund’s latest information, such as use of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer; the broker/dealer platforms
“It is unfortunate that we had to experience this at a time when investors may be feeling a bit more confident about the markets,” stated Marc Heilweil, president of Spectrum Advisory Services. “Getting warning messages when one tries to enter the fund’s website can be daunting and might alarm potential investors, which is our main concern.”
