When the Google mail accounts of some state officials of the United States were hacked sometimes in 2012, the Defence Department categorised any serious cyber attack, as an act of war.
Inspite of this, hacking trends continue in the US. An anonymous hacker on Tuesday published the personal and financial information of top ranking government officials, prominent stars and politicians, including the wife of the US President, Michelle Obama and Vice President, Joe Biden.
This comes against the backdrop of similar incidents in Nigeria. For instance the website of the Nigerian Army Education Corps- www.hqnaec.org- was hacked into on January 16, 2012, by internet hackers operating under the identity of NaijaCyberHactivists,
Also, the personal phone number of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, was cloned and by an unknown fraudster who used it to send text messages to members of state executive council, permanent secretaries in the civil service and his close associates requesting them to pay undisclosed sums of money into a bank account.
Just two days ago, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya of the Fountain of Life Church in Ilupeju, Lagos, urged members of the public to be wary of an unnamed Facebook fraudster whom he alleged to be using his name to commit financial crime.
However, Tuesday’s cyber attacks on public figures in the United States cannot be forgotten in a hurry. Even the head of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert Mueller, whose organisations is saddled with the responsibility of preventing cyber crimes was a victim of the cyber attacks.
Mueller’s personal data alongside that of Michelle, Biden, and some of the biggest names in US politics and entertainment and public figures including Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney; American socialite and TV personality, Kim Kardashian, immediate past Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton; US Attorney General, Eric Holder General Los Angeles Police Department Chief, Charlie Beck.
Others targeted include: former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin; golfer, Tiger Woods; actor and former governor of the State of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger; former US Vice President, Al Gore; wrestler, Hulk Hogan; rapper, Jay Z, singer, Beyonce; musician, Kanye West; business magnate, Donald Trump.
Also, US Marshals Director, Stacia Hylton, Mel Gibson, Ashton Kutcher, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Kris Jenner suffered the same fate.
Social security numbers, phone numbers, mortgage accounts, bank accounts, car loans credit card details and former addresses of the victims were posted on the website, www.exposed.su.
The “.su” root cum internet suffix in the website, indicates the Soviet Union, meaning that the address originates from Russia.
On visiting the website, one is welcomed by a portrait of a mysterious-looking woman and a headline, “The Secret Files.”
Just below the headline, the site featured the quotation, “If you believe that God makes miracles, you have to wonder if Satan has a few up his sleeve.”
When our correspondent clicked on the link to Michelle Obama, an all-black page displaying a cartoon-like picture of the First Lady and the phrase, “Blame your husband, we still love you, Michelle, <3” popped up.
It listed a number, which it claimed was Mrs. Obama’s social security number, her birth date, phone numbers, address and a link to her credit report. Her last known address in Chicago and four other previous addresses in Chicago were also posted on the page.
Clicking on her credit report page, Obama’s credit report as at March 11 which includes documented evidence of her financial dealings and enquiries with Bank of America, Chase Manhattan Mortgage, FACS Group, Guaranty Bank, among others, became at once visible.
Biden’s link, his social security number, phone number, and his previous addresses in Wilmington, Washington and Greenville were also posted, though his credit report and that of Clinton, Trump, and West were not published.
On Romney’s link, a picture of President Barack Obama showing him calling and saying to the former, “Hey Mitt, you mad bro.”
US experts said hackers were probably armed with personal information about the individuals, which was then used to access their credit report data.
According to Agence-France Presse, the three leading personal credit-rating agencies in the US, have already acknowledged that the files were accessed illegally. But they said the crimes were committed through other firms by sombody using the personal data of the victims, and not by hacking their own computers.