A recent report from Dispatch, one of the most reliable sources of investigative journalism in Korea, revealed that A-list actors, VIPs, idols, and famous chefs had been successfully blackmailed by hackers who gained access to their private data. It appears that malicious hackers were able to do this by exploiting the vulnerabilities of Samsung Galaxy smartphones. Hackers extort cash from its victims, and if the victim refuses to pay the amount, the hacker(s) threaten to expose all the data they have, according to the report.
Hackers are exploiting vulnerabilities in Samsung Galaxy smartphones, which allow them to easily gain access to private messages, photos, videos, and more. Once the hackers acquire private data, they ask for ransom from the owners. The ransom amount ranges between 50 million won or around $43,000 and 1 billion won or $860,000.
Actor Zhu Zhenmo was one of the victims, according to a report. Since the actor did not respond to the threats of the hacker, his private convo with other actors and other personal data were dumped on the Internet. The list of the celebrities and personalities is long, but aside from Zhenmo, no other names are mentioned in several reports in Korea. Another report claims that an idol singer gave in to the blackmail and paid the hackers to prevent his personal data from getting leaked online.
For a couple of months, Dispatch has been studying the phenomenon of celebrity hackers. The team discovered that common to all these celebrities that were blackmailed is the brand of their smartphone, Samsung. So far, the South Korean tech and electronics giant has not issued any statement regarding this matter.
Kpop fans know that Korea is an unforgiving country when it comes to scandals. In other words, it does not easily forget. It is one of the reasons why celebrities caught in this kind of situation easily give in to blackmail for fear of losing their careers. Some fans are drawing the similarity of this current issue of Korean celebrities to the issue faced by many Hollywood A-listers about their iPhone.
The current dilemma of Korean celebrities and personalities reflects the prevalent issue in our society today. Cybersecurity should be taken seriously. Issues like vulnerabilities, though remain a responsibility of tech companies, is also an issue that users should always be aware of.
Vigilance about the issues is one, and regularly updating devices like smartphones and laptops is another. While these are simple measures, regularly updating devices will ensure that vulnerabilities are patched, bugs are fixed, and new features are enjoyed by users.
