Celebrities hacking scandal shows digital vulnerability

LOS ANGELES: To keep private pictures private, never upload them online.
That’s the advice experts offer after hackers broke into female celebrities’ personal accounts, stole private photos and posted them on the web. Jennifer Lawrence and Mary Elizabeth Winstead have said they were victims of the hack attack.
Federal investigators are looking into the theft, and Apple confirmed that while individual accounts were breached, its iCloud and Find My iPhone services remained secure.
This latest hacking scandal is another reminder that locking down digital data is a must for public figures.
“It shows that celebrities, like the rest of us, are not as attuned to Internet security as they should be,” said marketing expert Dorie Clark. “Like many couples, celebrities probably enjoy taking racy photographs, but they have to recognize there are people out there who indare inherently interested in what they’re doing, and want to either make money or make a name for themselves by getting at those photos.”
It could be embarrassing for anyone to have their private image shown online, but most people aren’t at risk of being targeted by hackers in this way, said Gary Zembow, who helps celebrities secure their data as founder of Hollywood Tech Consulting.
“If you accept that some celebrities need bodyguards,” he said, “then their personal, private data needs a version of that, as well.”
Individuals and companies increasingly use Internet-based “cloud” storage for images and other data. But such data can become more vulnerable once uploaded online, said professor Lance Larson, an instructor at San Diego State University’s Graduate Program in Homeland Security.