Hackers Attack Lady Gaga’s Internet Site, Fans’ Information Exposed

A hackers' group, "Swagger Security" reportedly hacked the website of Lady Gaga, the famous musician and singer, stealing personal information of innumerable fans on June 27, 2011 reported Eweekeurope on July 18, 2011.

According to Universal Music, the record label of Lady Gaga, the British website's intruders filched one database of contract addresses along with a page with records of e-mail and full names, while leaving financial information and passwords untouched.

Disturbingly, the theft of e-mail ids and names could allow attackers to compromise the e-mail accounts of users of this website.

Security researchers claimed that plentiful admirers of Lady Gaga who have lost their e-mail ids to the hackers were chanced with being targeted with malware assaults or phishing scams. Thus, an e-mail could seem to carry photographs and information related to Gaga, while actually delivering nasty malware.

According to Rob Rachwald, Director of Security Strategy at Imperva, the actual motive behind a hacking operation is stealing the data. While explaining the matter, Rachwald claimed that the incident has not resulted in the theft of any financial data. E-mails are continuously arriving to fans presenting distinctive music, pictures and videos of the singer while actually distributing malicious software, as published on July 18, 2011.

Further according to Rachwald, the above strategy is one of the extremely fine tactics for disseminating malware as users receive one unopened video file of Lady Gaga. Senior Technology Consultant, Graham Cluley at Sophos, explained that though it was true that the watchdog officials must be notified about Swagger Security's criminal operations, it was simultaneously necessary for Gaga HQ to recognize that the Internet site possibly was not doing the least towards safeguarding its admirers' privacy.

Researchers stated that hacking attacks of the aforementioned type are extremely prevalent nowadays. Albeit such attacks may not expose any financial data and the like, yet it's essential to protect oneself from such attacks.

As such, researchers recommend netizens to update anti-virus software on their computers and safeguard themselves from malicious software.

Related article: Hackers Redirect Windows Live Search to Malicious Sites

» SPAMfighter News - 8/4/2011