Article: [Exclusive] "Top stars, idols, exposed"...celebrities threatened with blackmail over Galaxy hackings
Source: Dispatch via Nate
Dispatch has obtained exclusive reporting regarding Galaxy hackings involving top celebrities.
A hacker "000" has infiltrated Galaxy phones of actor A, actor B, idol C, director D, famous chef E, and actor Joo Jin Mo. Top stars representing the Republic of Korea are currently suffering from blackmail threats and more than 10 cases of damages have been confirmed so far.
[Hacker] "My purpose is money"
[Hacker] "What I do is trade data"
[Hacker] "If you agree, there will be no leaks"
The hacker's purpose is obtain money. First, with one celebrity, he requested 50 million won, then 100 million and then 1 billion won. He's reportedly blackmailing the celebrities with their "private" texts, videos, photos etc that are stored on their phone. If they don't respond to the negotiations, the hacker warns that he will disseminate the data. In fact, the hacker sent some materials as samples to the celebrity to increase the threat.
According to Dispatch, one idol singer has already given money because "they're worried about the impact of the video leak." Actor Joo didn't respond to the hacker's threats, however, the hacker has already retaliated against him. A private (text) conversation with a fellow actor has been circulated in the media.
Dispatch has been investigating the hacking of top stars for the past two months and found one common thread. All the top stars that were hacked were using the same company product, a Galaxy S phone.
Dispatch was able to obtain some of the blackmail texts sent to celebrities (or close aides) by the hackers and based on this, they inferred their identity. First off, the messages were poorly written in Korean and the word order and phraseology was awkward. They also used unusual expressions not often used in Korea.
Because of the slurred speech and systematic response seen in the messages, Dispatch believes the hackers are based outside of Korea.
- [+1,561, -61] Wow..Galaxy phone sales are going to drop because of this. I'd be too scared use it anymore.
- [+1,171, -73] I've noticed that a lot of celebrities and idols use iPhones because of this. I'm glad I don't use a Galaxyㅋ
- [+1,076, -11] The cloud system is set up in a way that once security is compromised, users are left exposed. That's why it's so dangerous. Please keep your private photos and videos on personal computer and only store music, movies, and dramas etc there..
- [+129, -13] I don't think only Galaxy phones are like this. iPhones in the US got hacked too and private photos got leaked...the cloud is the problem.
- [+118, -2] It's not the Galaxy phone that's the problem but rather Google account...it saves all your phone numbers, photos, and account info so you're put in a tough position if you get hacked. Google's account security is too weak
- [+83, -19] So many fools are saying iPhones are better ㅋㅋㅋㅋwasn't there a huge scandal in the U.S a while back where a celebrity's phone got hacked and private photos got leaked onlineㅋㅋㅋㅋit's a problem with the cloud..
- [+50, 2] This must be why Dispatch was so quiet on new yearsㅋ
