Hackers stole celebrities' personal data from Instagram. Hackers attack: how stars are captured by cybercriminals

Unknown hackers took advantage of the vulnerability social network Instagram and stole users' personal data. Among the victims are those accounts that have a blue verification check - these are received by show business stars, politicians, athletes and others famous people. As a rule, they have big amount subscribers, and therefore are a tempting target for hacking.

One of the victims of the leak was allegedly the popular 25-year-old singer Selena Gomez.

There's a threat hanging over the stars

A vulnerability was discovered in the social network's application programming interface (API), which has now been fixed. Nevertheless, with its help, the attackers managed to get phone numbers and celebrity emails.

The company did not disclose data regarding how many people were affected or who exactly became victims of the hack, but Instagram has over 700 million monthly active users, so it can be assumed that the number of compromised accounts is quite impressive.

Instagram sent a notification to all affected users hacker attack. “We recently discovered that one or more people illegally gained access to our celebrity users' contact information - namely email and phone number - due to a vulnerability in the API. Account passwords were not affected. We quickly fixed the vulnerability and began an investigation,” the company said in an official letter.

The message indicates the fact that such letters were sent to all verified account holders, and also recommends the use of two-factor authentication and a complex unique password. A copy of this message was published on Twitter by actor Gregory Michael, who is outraged by the fact that his number mobile phone ended up in the hands of unknown hackers.

An Instagram representative explained Mashable, that the company decided to notify all users with a blue check mark “as a precaution,” since the service has information that celebrities were the victims. A company employee refused to disclose exactly how many such users there are on Instagram.

Despite the fact that Instagram stated that passwords are secure, having a mobile number and address Email, an attacker could still potentially gain access to the account by bypassing the password.

Bieber suffered from hacking

Information about the hacking appeared just a couple of days after data became known about a hacker attack on the Instagram of the popular singer Selena Gomez, whose number of subscribers exceeded 125 million people. Gomez is the most popular user of this social network, ahead of her closest pursuers Taylor Swift and.

Hackers gained access to her account on Monday by posting a photo of a completely naked singer, whom Gomez had previously dated. At the moment, the photo has already been deleted, but screenshots of it can be found on Twitter. “Look at this little shrimp,” was the caption of the photo taken by the paparazzi while Bieber was vacationing in Bora Bora in 2015. After the publication of these pictures in the media, the pop singer stated that he felt “defiled.”

There is no information yet about other hacked accounts that may be related to the vulnerability found by hackers. It is likely that after the email warning from Instagram, many stars decided to play it safe and change their identification data just in case, so as not to get hurt like Selena Gomez and her ex-boyfriend.

“The safety and security of our community members is our absolute priority... As always, we encourage people to be vigilant about the security of their accounts and be wary of any suspicious activity on them, such as incoming calls, text messages, etc. emails from unknown persons,” the Instagram press service told Gazeta.Ru.

Yesterday, hackers gained access to the microblog of FIFA Ambassador in Russia Victoria Lopyreva. Fans of the star were quite surprised when they saw shocking posts of explicit content in their feed, allegedly authored by a blond model. After some time, Victoria's subscribers realized that she had become a victim of attackers. Late in the evening, Lopyreva managed to restore her page on the popular social network. The girl apologized to followers for inappropriate content and described the actions of those who attacked her Instagram as criminal. In this regard, StarHit recalled other high-profile stories of hacking of famous people.

Olga Buzova

In December 2016, Olga Buzova was going through an extremely difficult period. The TV presenter was divorcing her husband, Lokomotiv football player Dmitry Tarasov. The sudden separation of the couple, which seemed ideal from the outside, raised many questions among her fans. However, Olga and Dmitry preferred to remain silent, avoiding introducing strangers to the details of their personal lives. To top it all off, hackers attacked Buzova’s phone and published all its contents on the Internet - personal correspondence with celebrity friends and relatives, as well as photographs and videos of an intimate nature. Particularly curious social media users immediately began discussing and disseminating this data. It took Olga a lot of courage to cope with the negativity that fell upon her from spiteful critics.

Ksenia Sobchak

At the beginning of 2016, personal correspondence of Ksenia Sobchak appeared on the Internet. Internet users found out what the TV presenter prefers to chat about with her close friends - Ulyana Sergeenko, Nika Belotserkovskaya, Oksana Lavrentieva, Elena Perminova and other friends. It turned out that society ladies often gossip, discuss fashion events and periodically discuss the originality of things worn by other famous people. The center of attention for Sobchak and her friends was ex-participant of “House-2” Victoria Bonya. Ksenia's circle suspected that she was buying counterfeits. Bonya was indignant and reacted on Instagram.

“Now it’s clear who “didn’t let me in” to shows and other events. Hold on! Good luck to you in this difficult task! They opened Ksenia Anatolyevna’s phone, and I managed to read all their correspondence about me... That’s what happened, but I forgive! Let them be ashamed and embarrassed for their actions,” Victoria commented on the incident.

Hollywood stars

No one is immune from the actions of cybercriminals, even world-class celebrities. Intimate photographs of stars obtained illegally are regularly published on the Internet. So, in March 2017, personal photographs of Emma Watson and Amanda Seyfried appeared on the Internet. Hackers stated that in the near future they would release footage from the archives of Kylie Jenner, Kirsten Dunst, Marisa Tomei and others. And in December, users discussed “compromising evidence” on the star of the TV series “Charmed” Rose McGowan, who previously spoke out against sexual harassment in Hollywood.

Vlad Sokolovsky

At the beginning of April last year, intimate photographs of Alexei Chumakov and Yulia Kovalchuk suddenly appeared on singer Vlad Sokolovsky’s Instagram, in which they posed naked. And in the comments to the posts it was suggested to purchase personal videos star couple. Fans of Rita's husband Dakota sounded the alarm because such behavior is unacceptable for their idol. Fortunately, Sokolovsky managed to restore access to his personal page.

“Yes, we learned a lot today. What can I say... Lech didn’t pay me for this. In general, everything is fine. I don't even know how to comment on this. Our friends in in great shape, for which I congratulate them,” Vlad apologized after the incident.

Yulia Proskuryakova

Singer Yulia Proskuryakova, who faced an attack by cybercriminals at the end of 2016, was incredibly lucky. The mother of the man who acquired her Instagram turned out to be a fan of Igor Nikolaev. “Then he wrote me a message and returned the account absolutely free of charge. For which I thank him again very much!” – Julia told StarHit.

Despite the successful resolution of the situation, Proskuryakova was left with an unpleasant aftertaste in her soul.

Model Liza Adamenko lost access to Instagram after a scandalous separation from her husband, Lukoil top manager Valentin Ivanov. Last year, the girl claimed that her husband raised his hand to her and threatened her. The attackers who gained access to Lisa’s page began publishing mysterious posts in which they strongly hinted at her allegedly immoral behavior. A letter written by Valentin Ivanov also appeared on the Internet. The businessman accused Lisa of cheating and accused her of violating a certain agreement. As a result, Adamenko started a new microblog. According to rumors young beauty returned to Ivanov, but whether this is so is not known for certain.

Milana Kerzhakova

Last spring, Milana Kerzhakova’s subscribers read a post on her Instagram about breaking up with her husband. The author of the publication claimed that Alexander Kerzhakov abandoned his wife and son Artemy. Fans of the athlete doubted the authenticity similar information, because just a few hours before, the couple demonstrated their family idyll at the charity Flower Ball. A few hours later, Milana regained control of the microblog.

"Friends! An hour ago my Instagram was hacked! But thanks to professional people, we managed to get my account back. Everything that was posted on the page earlier is nothing more than the envy of ill-wishers! Thank you for your understanding!" – Kerzhakov’s wife addressed the public.

Zara

Singer Zara also found herself in trouble because of hackers. Unknown people who gained access to the artist’s microblog posted posts on her account and also corresponded with fans and friends. Those close to the performer suspected something was wrong and informed her about strange activity on Instagram. Zara immediately began restoring the account, which took a couple of days.

“All this time, on my behalf, they corresponded with you and posted dubious posts. I apologize for the content of these posts. Now Instagram has been restored thanks to my caring fans. I thank all the artists, friends, all of you who worried about me, called, helped. Thank you for having me! Well, I will continue to share a piece of my life with you,” the star shared.

Lena Lenina

At the beginning of last year, a writer and businesswoman was blackmailed by hackers, demanding money for the return of the Instagram they had stolen. However, Lena Lenina was not going to follow the lead of cybercriminals and created a new microblog. Star friends socialite helped her inform the public about the second account. It is worth noting that this is not the first time Lenina has encountered such unpleasant incidents. Previously, attackers hacked into a celebrity’s email and posted intimate photos of her online.

Milena Chizhova

Last summer, blogger Milena Chizhova found herself at the center of a scandal. Hackers who gained access to the girl’s phone were able to take over her Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and page on the VKontakte social network. Milena received an SMS from her mobile operator, which reported an application to change the SIM card. Chizhova’s company said that she allegedly came to the phone shop with her passport, wanting to switch the number to another person. The Internet star was quite surprised by such data. Milena suspected that they wanted to take revenge on her. It is noteworthy that a few days before the incident, Instagram support blocked Chizhova’s account, but she managed to restore the page.

Yesterday on Instagram page famous singer Vlad Sokolovsky appeared photographs of naked spouses Yulia Kovalchuk and Alexey Chumakov. The provocative photographs hung there for a short time and disappeared.

Photos of naked Alexei Chumakov and Yulia Kovalchuk suddenly appeared on the account of singer Vlad Sokolovsky. Later, the pictures also unexpectedly disappeared, and Sokolovsky had to make excuses.

One can imagine how surprised numerous subscribers of the official page on the Instagram social network of singer Vlad Sokolovsky were when photographs of completely naked artists Alexei Chumakov and Yulia Kovalchuk, as well as other celebrities, appeared in the feed. When the first shock of the subscribers passed, they realized that it was all the fault of hackers who simply hacked into the accounts of the “naked people” and Sokolovsky himself. Moreover, cybercriminals offered to transfer “hard home porn” of spouses and other incriminating evidence on other celebrities for money.

Fortunately, Vlad managed to get his page back and delete the images that were compromising his colleagues. In turn, Sokolovsky recorded a video message in which he justified himself for the appearance of such indecent photographs on his account. “Yes, we learned a lot of new things today (chuckles). What can you say... Lech didn’t pay me for this. In general, everything is fine... I don’t even know how to comment on this... Our friends are in great shape ". Of course. It's complete *** that accounts are hacked like that. Ten thousand people have unsubscribed from me... *** ten thousand, please come back!" - Sokolovsky addressed the public.

In the caption to the video, the singer apologized for the fact that this whole unpleasant situation happened on such a tragic day, when a terrorist attack occurred in St. Petersburg. “Well, something like this! Sorry, dear colleagues, that this was done through my account, but as you all understand, no one is immune from this... even on a day like this...! It’s a bad day for such pranks, nothing sacred ..." - wrote Vlad Sokolovsky.

Let us note that this is already the second time that photographs with Yulia Kovalchuk depicted naked appeared on the Internet. Photos of the naked actress “surfaced” on the Internet at the end of last year. However, the popular performer herself did not react to this. that her personal photos became public knowledge.

Since the news appeared in the media that Alexey Chumakov and Yulia Kovalchuk broke up, attention to this couple from reporters has become increased.

The other day, Alexey Chumakov was spotted in the capital’s Emporio Cafe, where the opening of the multi-format music festival Emporio Music Fest 4 took place. So, Yulia Kovalchuk was not seen next to him. But Chumakov was never bored, and before the photographers he appeared in an embrace with another representative of the fair sex. It turned out that the girl’s name is also Yulia, and her last name is Kataeva, and she is the director of Emporio Music Fest. So, most likely, these hugs were purely business in nature.

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