Hackers have gotten past government security systems, compromised crucial military operations and infrastructure data, and targeted nuclear facilities and large corporations. It is child’s play for them to attack phones and social media accounts. Celebrities, like most of us, can be victims of cybercrime if they don’t take the security of their online accounts seriously or don’t practice discretion in sharing personal information.
Here is the list of 16 celebrities who got hacked.
Britney Spears
She is the hackers’ favorite for the number of times she has been hacked in the past decade. In one of the attacks, the hacker changed the background of her account, switched her profile picture to a red-hued image, and tweeted –
I give myself to Lucifer every day for it to arrive as quickly as possible. Glory to Satan!
i hope that the new world order will arrive as soon as possible! -Britney
Her fans were taken aback and instantly knew she had been hacked, as Spears was known to tweet only about music and her performance schedule.
Joe Biden
In one of the most high-profile security breaches, Joe Biden’s Twitter account was hacked, and bogus tweets were sent out. The tweets offered to send USD 2000 for every USD1000 sent to an anonymous Bitcoin address. It shows that even eminent politicians are not immune from being victims of cybercrime.
Rihanna
Raw photos of the successful singer were leaked across the Internet. The hacker, Ryan Collins, gained access to the photos through a simple phishing attack in which he impersonated a legitimate business.
Jude Law
Jude Law was hacked, and sensitive information about the British star was leaked. The surprising part was that the hackers were the British media and members of Law’s own family.
Scarlett Johansson
ScarJo was the victim of a hacking attack where several of her raw photos were uploaded to the Internet. Though the hacker Christopher Chaney pleaded guilty to computer hacking and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the film fraternity was shocked as Chaney didn’t do it for money but just for the thrill of it.
Selena Gomez
The pop star’s email accounts have been hacked several times to gain access to her stored data. Her photos were stolen and were posted all over the Internet. In one attack, the photographs of her and her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber holidaying in Bora Bora were also leaked online.
Tiger Woods
A few years ago, private photos of Tiger Woods and his ex-girlfriend Lindsey Vonn appeared on a website after the images were hacked from Vonn’s phone. However, it’s not the only time Tiger Woods has been hacked. In another hacking incident, his financial information was stolen and posted online.
Barack Obama
Barack Obama’s computers were hacked into during the election campaign of 2008. Foreign hackers infiltrated his computer networks, and large quantities of information were downloaded, leading to a severe breach of privacy and data. Obama was again attacked in 2020 along with Joe Biden, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and many more, and bogus tweets were sent from their Twitter accounts in an apparent bitcoin scam.
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus was first hacked when she was just 15 years old, and she has been a few times after that. In the first attack, her provocative photos were released; however, in the second hacking attack, they got access to her raw photos that were subsequently leaked online.
Sean Combs
The rapper Diddy was hacked when a tweet from his Twitter account advertised a mobile phone shop in New York. Within minutes, Combs tweeted, alerting his fans of a hacking attack on his account.
Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher’s Twitter account was hacked, and one tweet went out of it: Ashton, you’ve been Punk’d. This account is not secure. Dude, where’s my SSL?
The hacker was mocking Kutcher, referencing his 2000 comedy “Dude, Where’s My Car?” on his poor online security.
Paris Hilton
A teen hacker breached the socialite’s phone by gaining access to T-Mobile International’s telephone records system. The hacker successfully guessed Paris Hilton’s password, “Tinkerbell,” which was the name of her Chihuahua. The phone numbers and email addresses of fellow stars on Hilton’s phone were released online.
Sofia Vergara
Modern Family star’s Instagram account was hacked and a free giveaway was announced. Sofia took to Twitter and informed her fans that her Instagram account was hacked and urged them to not answer or send any info to the hackers.
Tom Hanks
In a massive cyberattack on the computers of Sony Pictures, vast amounts of confidential information about the company and its actors were leaked online. The hacker group, “Guardians of Peace”, released information about the aliases used by celebrities while traveling and checking into hotels. Tom Hanks often checks in under “Harry Lauder” and “Johnny Madrid.” He was not the only victim of this attack, but the aliases of celebrities like Natalia Portman, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, and Daniel Craig were exposed as well.
Axl Rose
The Guns N’ Roses singer’s Twitter account was hacked, and the tweet said that all upcoming event dates for Rose’s Chinese Democracy Tour were canceled. The concert organizers wasted no time informing fans that the tweet was fake and the tour was proceeding as scheduled.
Lady Gaga
Just a few days before Christmas 2011, Lady Gaga’s fans were pleasantly surprised when they saw her tweet that she was giving away a free iPad 2 to everyone in the holiday spirit. Naturally, Gaga soon confirmed that the tweet with a sign-up link was a scam.