Hackerts Target the Rich and Famous

Hackers Target the Rich and Famous

Michael Dell is wealthy man and Dell pays $2.7 million per year to protect one of their
most important assets.

In 2012 his children threw a wrench into those protective services by divulging intimate details about the families’ personal lives and the exact location (GPS coordinates in fact) via social media networks on their mobile devices.

Michael’s 18 year old daughter was posting on popular social media site Twitter, which was linked up to another photosharing site,Instagram.

What they didn’t know was that Instagram was posting the exact GPS coordinates of where each photo was taken, making it easy for anyone in the world to track the Dell’s whereabouts.

His 15 year old son was posting family photos on Instagram as well, including information on their whereabouts, and travel plans. Those photos were then pulled and redistributed to the popular blog “Rich Kids of Instagram” which aims at tracking intimate details on the ultra wealthys’ children. They are heavy handed and one of their aims is to embarrass these families.

Over the past year we have seen numerous celebrities have their cell phones hacked
and mined for data. Blackmail and public embarrassment were the motivating factors when hackers broke into Miley Cyrus’ phone and leaked nude photos. The same can be said for actress Scarlett Johansson (GMail hacked) and and musician Rihanna.

It is only a matter of time before we see more malicious attacks on these ultra wealthy, celebrities, and businessman. Understanding these mobile devices, social media networks and the data flow will be key to protecting these individuals from harm today and into the future.

Interesting article:
http://betabeat.com/2012/08/alexa-dell-rich-kids-of-instagram-michael-dell-08142012/