Michelle Obama Hacked!
The White House has long been a source of tips on fashion, living a healthy lifestyle, and cyber security. This time, however, it appears that an Obama is the one who needs help protecting her online identity.
The incident involved the disclosure of personal information about First Lady Michelle Obama, information which was obtained using a technique known as doxing. Information disclosed reportedly includes Michelle Obama's Social Security number, a credit report, former addresses, and payment history for student loans.
Cyber security experts were quoted as saying that hackers use personal details about their victims to generate reports on AnnualCreditReport.com. What is truly frightening about this attack is that this website can access anyone's credit report and was reportedly setup to help prevent online identity theft.
Security experts and lawmakers are scrambling to catch up with the doxing craze that does not appear to actually be breaking any laws. The First Lady was not the only celebrity whose information was disclosed. President Obama confirmed authorities were investigating whether hackers had, indeed, obtained and posted online financial information belonging to his wife and nearly a dozen other celebrities, including Jay-Z and Kim Kardashian.
Cyber security experts recommend caution with information that you expose on social media. Identity thieves can potentially use the simplest information to impersonate identities. It may be fun to post your high school reunion on Facebook, but don't then use the name of your high school as a security authentication question for your online banking account!
