As
more and more celebrities join the social networking bandwagon, they
also become increasingly vulnerable to hacking. From heads of states to
Hollywood celebrities, this year saw a series of hacking incidents
involving high-profile victims. Check out the top 10 most controversial
ones...
Selena Gomez
Selena
Gomez's Twitter and Facebook fans woke up to an uncharacteristic post
about her boyfriend Justin Bieber. The venomous post screamed "Oh yeah,
JUSTIN BIEBER SUCKS!!!!!!!". The teen singer immediately clarified that
it was a case of hacking and she had nothing to do with the post.
Ashton Kutcher
Hollywood
star Ashton Kutcher, who used to host the celebrity prank show, Punk'd,
got a taste of is medicine his Twitter account @aplusk was hacked. A
tweet sent to his followers said, "Ashton, you've been Punk'd. This
account is not secure. Dude, where's my SSL?"
Kim Kardashian
Kim
Kardashian went into a panic mode when her Twitter account was hacked
by internet pranksters this year. On discovering fake tweets posted by
an imposter, the socialite appealed to bosses of the site to help
restore the security on her account.
Sony PlayStation
In
one of the biggest data breaches, Sony admitted to an external
intrusion which exposed personal information of 77 million PlayStation
Network users. The PlayStation maker warned users that the hackers might
have access to customers' vital information, including names,
birthdates, physical and e-mail addresses, and logins, handles and
credit card details.
Research in Motion
Hackers
defaced a website belonging to Blackberry maker Research in Motion soon
after the company revealed its plans to support police investigating
the London riots. The hackers posted on the blog: "No Blackberry you
will NOT assist the police." Blackberry took off the blog briefly and
restored it to its original form.
Facebook
In
one of the most shocking security breach incident, around two lakhs
Facebook accounts were hacked in Bangalore. The users' photos and videos
were morphed and the sleazy links mailed to friends and families
overnight.
Lady Gaga
A
scam on Lady Gaga's Facebook page fooled many fans into clicking the
link to win an iPad. The contest rules and registration were presented
as a link to a Blogspot page. "Lady Gaga's new iPad comes out in 3 days!
So for the next 72 hours we will be hosting a massive giveaway to all
the Mother Monster fans. Sign up and receive your special Lady Gaga
edition iPad in time for the Holidays!" hackers posted on her Facebook
page. The presence of the fake iPad offer didn't go unnoticed, and was
taken down within an hour.
Nicolas Sarkozy
Hackers
played a cruel joke on French President Nicolas Sarkozy when they
posted a fake resignation letter from his Facebook page. The post, which
went out to more than 350,000 'friends' of the head of the state read
like this: "Dear compatriots, given the exceptional circumstances our
country is experiencing, I have decided in my spirit and conscience not
to run for office again at the end of my mandate in 2012".
Yingluck Shinawatra
Thailand's
Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, fell victim to the hacking menace
when her Twitter account was hacked. Her followers received tweets
criticizing her political experience and incompetence. The tweets also
suggested that she was her brother's (former Prime Minister - Thaksin
Shinawatra) puppet.
Fox News
While
celebrities and popular figures have been the target of hackers, it was
media house Fox News who faced their ire in July this year. In a
gruesome joke, the hackers tweeted the death of president Obama. Some of
the tweets read like this: @BarackObama has just passed. The President
is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed. President Barack Obama is dead."
This was followed by more on the same lines claiming that Obama was shot
at a restaurant while campaigning.
Source :- http://worldtoptenthings.blogspot.in/2012/09/top-10-hacking-scandals-of-2011.html
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