Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Lady Gaga social media Hack is a warning to celebrities to ensure their PR firms invest in information security

Phew. The hacking is over! And just in time, I'm on my way to Japan! So excited to spend Xmastime with my TokyoMonsters! I also want to thank Little Monsters for making tomorrow the 20th Marry The Night Download Day. You are so sweet + generous, I love u. Xx Ready for redwine and 12 hrs of napping. Is it weird I like flying because I can sleep and my t-t-telephone has no service? #stopcallin wee!
Was one of the latest posts on Lady Gaga’s facebook page after her Twitter and Facebook account had been hacked and several posts/tweets went out promising her fans iPad’s.
On FaceBook
"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! For contest rules and registration visit the link below."
And Twitter
"Monsters, I'm giving away FREE ipad2's to each one of you in the spirit of the holidays :)"
Fans normally follow celebrities and fake links on celebrity events, news and rumours are popularly used to lure fans to click on spam or malicious links sending such messages viral.
Compromise of a legitimate site with millions of users is the holy grail of celebrity hacks as there is instant access to a wide population of trusting fans. In this case 100000 fans clicked on the links. The usual recommendation of think before you click holds no good when the attack comes from a site of high credibility. No wonder it caused Lady Gaga Stress. I am happy that her team has been able to quell the hack and remove the links.
I advised in my post “Celebrities at High Risk from Hackers” those big celebrities who use social media like Twitter and Facebook to interact with fans and hire media firms to manage these accounts, should ensure that their teams with access to the celebrity’s account and personal data protect its confidentiality through the use of security best practices.
I believe that the current Lady Gaga hack is an apt example of the risks celebrities’ face.

1 comment:

  1. Information Security will always be take care for working in a long term.

    ReplyDelete