With Fans Like These...
Achieving celebrity in the Internet age can be fraught with complications and, sometimes, lead to some downright creepy situations. First, there were the hackers who gained access to Hollywood socialite Paris Hilton's cell phone and voice mail messages in 2005, an exploit that led to the online posting of nude photos of the hotel heiress. Now comes news that an apparently obsessed fan of the rock band Linkin Park is accused of hacking into Verizon's computer system to obtain private information and records of the group's lead singer and his family.
According to documents posted online at FindLaw, 27-year-old Albuquerque resident Devon Townsend has admitted using her employer's computer -- a machine assigned to the Department of Energy on a U.S. Air Force base in New Mexico -- to hack into Verizon's network and obtain private records on Chester Bennington and his wife Talinda. The government also alleges that Townsend used the access to compromise the Bennington's PayPal account and to steal photographs of the couple and their children. According to court documents, the Benningtons were tipped off to the compromise when they discovered that their Verizon and PayPal account passwords had been changed to "Who is doing this to you?"
In addition, Townsend is accused of making telephone threats against the Bennington family and to selling bootlegged and pirated copies of Linkin Park recordings.
The government executed a search warrant on Townsend's residence in mid-November, where they found "posters of Linkin Park members, signed Linkin Park memorabilia, pictures of Townsend taken with Chester Bennington, bootlegged music and video DVDs, concert schedules, copies of messages from Talinda and Chester's e-mail accounts, intercepted photographs from Talinda and Chester's e-mail accounts, and other items." After being confronted with the evidence against her, Townsend confessed to the whole ordeal, according to government documents.
Findlaw has 18 pages of more delicious details from this case in a filing here.
By Brian Krebs |
November 28, 2006; 3:00 PM ET
Misc.
Previous: Boarding Pass Hacker Breaks Silence |
Next: Apple Patches 31 Security Holes
Posted by: antibozo | November 28, 2006 4:31 PM
Proves the point that on average, three percent of any population is certifiably nuts. Seems like that number is growing doesn't it? It also proves how much technology can be the Achilles heel of society, although truthfully, it's not the technology's fault, but the malicious intent of the user. Let us hope people of such ilk get what they deserve in the end.
Posted by: Tim | November 28, 2006 4:36 PM
The scariest part is this:
According to court documents, the Benningtons were tipped off to the compromise when they discovered that their Verizon and PayPal account passwords had been changed to "Who is doing this to you?"
How did they know what the passwords were set to? Do they have access to passwords instead of just storing some kind of hash?
Posted by: RJ | November 29, 2006 8:55 AM
That is just downright disturbing.
Posted by: Jennifer | November 29, 2006 9:30 AM
>
They hit the "I forgot my password" button on the logon screen. The system then e-mails you your password.
Posted by: DT | November 29, 2006 10:52 AM
I'm annoyed they just call it a "hack" without any details on what exactly happened. She gained unauthorized access to Verizon accounts and billing? Whoa there wild pony!
Posted by: LonerVamp | November 29, 2006 11:45 AM
LonerVamp is right. The fact that someone hacked into Verizon and found users, got emails, changed passwords is the real story here, but we are sadly so accustomed to such things that we pass that by as normal.
Posted by: Michael | November 30, 2006 1:07 PM
Security is an illusion today. You can do everything possible to lock down your information on your own end. But, so much of that information is now out of our control and is left in the hands of others. With that being said, even a heavily fortified castle can still be broken into by anyone with enough determination and resources. All these systems are designed and implemented by humans and thus will always be fallible. There is no solution, only varying levels of risk management.
Posted by: Tim | November 30, 2006 4:01 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
See also:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/16098934.htm