Biggest Celebrity Hacking Scandals- Celebrities are targeted by hackers more than the average person and for some obvious reasons. First, their digital property (photos, videos, etc.) can be sold to tabloids and other sources for monetary gain. Second, because they’re worth a lot of money, access to their bank accounts and credit card numbers gives the hacker access to significant wealth. Third, and lastly, they’re famous, which means the successful hacking will get media coverage and some hackers are only in it for the recognition.
“The Fappening” Victims: Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and Jill Scott
“The Fappening” is the crude title given to the phishing scheme that resulted in more than 100 hacked iCloud accounts. As the saying goes: celebs…they’re just like us. And, just like us, they’re vulnerable to phishing and malware schemes. The victims, beautiful Hollywood actresses, and models, had their private photographs disseminated across the Internet.
Recommended – Highest Paid Hollywood Actresses
A word of advice:
Don’t store super private information and photos on the cloud; instead, use a flash drive with flash key encryption, which is a password protected, military grade encrypted USB complete with backup and antivirus. It’s small enough to go anywhere, but if it’s lost or stolen, it’s unlikely it can be hacked.
Unfortunately, The Fappening occurred because the celebs opened an email from a fake account. The sender was “Appleprivacysecurity,” and the celebs willingly handed over their usernames and passwords, which resulted in a nationwide discussion about what constitutes a s3x crime. The victims of the hacking feel sexually violated because their nude photos were distributed across the web, and it’s unlikely they’ll ever be able to track down every photo and remove them.
“Ashley Madison Hack” Victims: Josh Duggar, Jionni LaValle, and Sam Radar
Not sure if cheating spouses should be called victims or not, but these celebs were exposed in the infamous Ashley Madison hack. The most famous person to be caught with an Ashley Madison account is Josh Duggar, who was also accused of terrible crimes that same year.
For those not in the know (good for you), Ashley Madison “a Canada-based online dating service and social networking service marketed to people who are married or in committed relationships.” – Wikipedia.org.
TwitterGate Victims: Kylie Jenner, Mark Zuckerberg, Lana Del Rey, and Chelsea Handler
Back in July 2016, tons of celebrities had their Twitter accounts hacked. The hackers left some absurd, silly, and downright mean status updates. The hacked Tenacious D account reported that Jack Black had died at 46 when he’s very much alive. Although you can’t encrypt your Twitter account, take advantage of other social media and direct messaging encryption, such as the WhatsApp encryption.
“Political Hacktivism” Victim: Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman is a popular comedian, actress, and known Hillary Clinton supporter. She frequently tweeted her support for the Democratic presidential candidate throughout the 2016 election. Right-wing hacktivists spurned Silverman by hacking into her twitter and posting a political video aimed at denigrating Hillary Clinton.
“This move isn’t a surprising choice,” reports TunezNG.com. “Hackers frequently go after the social media accounts of public figures to get their message to a wider audience.”
Although most of these hacks are kinda funny (discounting the Fappening, which was a huge invasion of privacy), there’s not a whole lot of good that comes from hacking. In most cases, normal people are targeted for their money, identities, or content. You can protect yourself with antivirus and encryption, as I’m sure most of the above-mentioned celebs have realized.
