The headline is a bit of a stretch; the author in the article is merely speculating that their database has been hacked. I'd be pretty shocked if that were actually the case.
Instead, it looks like someone has found a flaw in the current ranking algorithm and is using that to their advantage.
Apologies for using the word "hacked" -- I meant the system was hacked, not necessarily the database. Durn title was long enough already.
I wasn't trying to do a Digg, honest. My point was that as sites grow in popularity, there's this huge arms race that goes on. In addition, as the internet goes everywhere, you can pay a thousand people a buck a day to do the hacking for you. It's a huge problem, and some thought has to be given to it even as a startup, imo.
Instead, it looks like someone has found a flaw in the current ranking algorithm and is using that to their advantage.