According to reports, Hollywood actress Salma Hayek has fallen victim to hackers, who have broken into her email account and released images of her private communications.
The actress, remembered equally well for her Oscar-nominated role in the biopic of Frida Kahlo as her erotic snake-dancing performance in “From Dusk Till Dawn”, had her MobileMe account hacked after hackers reset her account password by correctly entering her date or birth and guessing her secret question (reportedly the name of her most famous film role).
As a result, the world knows details of what iPhone applications Salma Hayek has download from the Apple iTunes Store, when she has arranged to have her Japanese face massage, and that her billionaire French husband François-Henri Pinault pays her bills.
Of course, it’s worth remembering that Salma Hayek is the victim of a crime.
Maybe she did choose to protect her online email account with weak security that anyone with access to Wikipedia could probably bypass, but breaking into her MobileMe account is still an offence.
The public should take this as a warning to be very careful about what “secret answers” they choose in case they need to ever reset their passwords. Too many people when they are asked “What was your mother’s maiden name?” or “Tell us the name of your favourite pet” choose to answer honestly with information that is a matter of public record, or can be found out by visiting their Facebook profile.
My advice is if you’re asked to tell website what your mother’s name is, answer something memorable that no-one else will be able to guess, like “Xena Warrior Princess” or “Artichoke Sandwich”.
By the way, Salma Hayek isn’t the first figure in the public eye to have her email hacked. Watch this video: “Paris Hilton & Sarah Palin – what’s the connection?”.
