Celebrity ‘sext scandals’
Some must learn the hard way that a phone should only be used for talking.
What should celebrities do to stop having their nude photos and sexts scammed off of their smart phones?
Well, there are high-priced cyber security measures one can enact. Or, one can just keep one's privates private.
Following the reported hack of several nude photos from ‘Glee’ star Heather Morris’ smart phone, scores of young people took to Twitter to announce that they know better than to ever pose provocatively or text intimate information, and that perhaps much older, wiser celebrities should know better, too.
“Heather Morris’ nude photos leaked! Why are girls so stupid?’” tweeted one.
Another wrote “next time, think twice before you do something as stupid as that."
Another added “when are celebs going to figure out that they should NOT take nudes unless they want them leaked?”
The young readers at Teen.com were also quick to dish out their disgust.
“Why can’t celebrities (or teenagers) keep their clothes on???? It’s just so immodest. If you didn’t want the pictures out, then why take them???” one female teen wrote on the website.
A male reader also weighed in: “it’s inapprops! Why do stars do that?”
The Morris nude photo scandal was the third in less than a week. Olivia Munn and Christina Hendricks both recently had to answer questions when nude photos, allegedly of the 30-something stars, appeared, out of the blue, online. The rash of flesh flashes (which come on the heels of handfuls of hacked naked celeb pics over the past few years) have some saying common sense may not be enough.
“Celebrities pay big money for bodyguards and home security systems, but they leave their personal devices open to chance. Most CEOs hire cyber security consultants to protect their phones, laptops and tablets – but for some reason this hasn’t caught on in Hollywood,” certified “ethical hacker” Michael Gregg, who is hired by Fortune 500s and the US government to advise on cyber security issues, told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “Hackers target celebrities because they are after anything of value, and since these folks are not security experts, they make tempting targets.”
Gregg said Hollywood needs to take a tougher stance on security, and this involves bringing security experts on board in the same way they might use a bodyguard for physical protection.
“The cost of a cyber bodyguard could range from a few thousand and up, depending on if it is an individual computer, or much more if they have offices that need a security review,” he continued. “The alternative is to hope you don’t get hacked, and if you do, be prepared to deal with the fallout.”
Or, just do what your young fans advise, and keep your clothes on.
“First of all, by not storing sensitive personal information on a device, celebrities can avoid embarrassing data breaches,” said Ken Westin, Founder & CTO of GadgetTrak. “Awareness is key, data just no longer resides on your laptop or phone, but also the (iTunes) Cloud, with private and personal data stored in a lot of different places.”
Brian Lawson, co-creator of Action Alert, Keyware, Inc.’s parental control software, agrees.
“Education is the most important – parents should teach kids to never post inappropriate photos on social networking and other sites,” Lawson said. “Don’t e-mail or share photo’s that you would not want the entire world to see... because they just might be seen by the world.”
That goes for you too, celebrities.
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