An anonymous collective of hackers dubbing themselves Hollywood Leaks has been breaking into the cell phones and email accounts of celebrities including Footloose star Julianne Hough, rapper Kreayshawn, Joey Fatone and Twilight actress Ashley Greene and releasing photos and phone numbers online. The group reportedly even found and released the script of the upcomingTom Cruise musical Rock of Ages.
Besides hacking, the group also claims to have an anti-Semitic agenda.
"Attention Hollywood. We are Anonymous. We have been watching you. We have been listening to you," a computerized voice says in a video manifesto the hackers posted on YouTube on Aug. 28. "You have been allowed to run free too long. The time of Jew control media is over."
The warning was uploaded on the same day as the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, but two days later the hackers appeared to make light of it on their Twitter page.
"LOL at people calling us anti-semites, Its for the LULZ. Get over it," the group tweeted.
Hollywood Leaks, however, did make good on its threats. Shortly after the VMAs, it leaked nude photos of 21-year-old rapper Kreayshawn, who was among the nominees who lost out in the Best New Artist category, after hacking into her Twitter account.
"F--k you! I have been hacked! You shall not pass!" tweeted the hip-hopster after finding out about the info dump.
Kreayshawn then went on to explain that the pics were taken "when I was under age."
In the two weeks since Hollywood Leaks launched their blitz, the ring also hacked into the cell phones of Hough, billionaire mogul Mark Cuban, former 'N Sync member Joey Fatone, and director Adam Shankman, from whom it claims to have leaked a script of Rock of Ages.
"#ROCKOFAGESMOVIE WE DROPPED YOUR SCRIPT! PEOPLE FOLLOW! DROPPING CELEB NUMBERS ALL NIGHT!" boasted the Leakers in another tweet.
The FBI's Los Angeles Bureau has yet to comment on whether it has launched an investigation into the collective, which purports to be an offshoot of Anonymous, which has in the past gone after credit card companies and the Church of Scientology.
Reps for Hough and Shankman were unavailable for comment.
The group concluded their manifesto with the following: "We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us."
No doubt, law enforcement will be waiting.
Hollywood is being hacked by Anonymous offshoot
(CBS) - Ugh. Another hacking group hits the scene. This time they're not even attempting a message or purpose. A new faction that claims to be an offshoot of Anonymous named Hollywood Leaks has targeted celebrity emails and Twitter accounts.
The group has leaked phone numbers of entrepreneur Mark Cuban, singer Miley Cyrus and actress Ashley Greene on document sharing site Pastebin. Tom Cruise's latest script for a musical called "Rock of Age" was also released on the Pirate Bay. Nude photos of rap newcomer Kreayshawn were tweeted to over 300,000 followers from her hacked Twitter account while she was at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Thursday morning a release included the email addresses of actor Gerard Butler, rappers Waka Flocka and Lloyd Banks.
All announcements are made through their Twitter account, which is filled with racist and homophobic comments.
A statement given to Gawker's Adrian Chen via email gives insight to their mission, "We're simply here to facilitate the free flow of information from a place which was previously over looked, Hollywood."
According Chen the group isn't particularly tech savvy, "they say they've broken into accounts mostly by guessing bad security questions."
Just from an initial glance at the types of hacks and tweets released, it doesn't seem very Anonymous-like, who usually targets for political reasons. It's most likely a bunch of people who want to pick on famous people, using Anonymous' method of delivery. Either way, they're menacing.
We reached out to Miley Cirus and Gerard Butler to no avail. If hacking history tells us anything, this is just the beginning. Hold on tight to your publicists, celebs. You're going to need them.
E!, cbsnews
xoxo
Carrie
0 comments:
Post a Comment