The 500 A-list celebrities whose Instagram accounts have been hacked, and whose contact details are for sale on the dark web, have now been identified.
The 500 A-list celebrities whose Instagram accounts have been hacked, and whose contact details are for sale on the dark web, have now been identified.
Cyber-security company RepKnight reports that among celebrities affected are:
Actors: Emma Watson, Emilia Clarke, Zac Efron, Leonardo Di Caprio, Channing Tatum
Musicians: Harry Styles, Ellie Goulding, Victoria Beckham, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Adele, Snoop Dogg, Britney Spears
Sportspeople: Floyd Mayweather, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Paul Pogba and Zinedine Zidane, Neymar, David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli
Patrick Martin, a cyber-security analyst at RepKnight, said: “While Instagram has now fixed the bug that lead to the leak, the cat is out of the bag now, and those affected will have to take extra care to maintain their privacy. “As dark web specialists at RepKnight, we were able to track down the identities of some of those affected using our sophisticated monitoring tools. Their phone numbers and email addresses are being offered for sale on the dark web, at $US10 a time. “The attack just goes to show the growing threat of the dark web. If you’ve been hacked and someone’s posted your contact details on a site that Google cannot reach, you’re highly unlikely to ever understand the severity of that hack. “Everyone is at risk of the dark web these days — not just A-list celebrities. At RepKnight we see thousands upon thousands of posts every day relating to corporate and consumer data appearing on the dark web for sale, with those affected none the wiser.” He goes on to point out that the Instagram accounts of many high-profile brands were also hacked, including Nike, NASA, Chanel, Adidas and many others.
This article originally appeared at scmagazineuk.com
