Two alleged hackers working from Germany are being investigated for using malicious software to get into the computer systems belonging to several very famous recording artists. They started by using a very common attack mode, “spearphishing”. This is where a cybercriminal targets a high profile individual with tailored emails, designed to get the victim to open one and enable the malicious software to get onto their system. Here the hackers allegedly sent their poisoned mail to the official email addresses of the stars or their teams of advisors. The hack seems to have begun a year ago and during the ensuing time the hackers have reportedly made some money in a number of different scams using the stolen goods as bait.
In some cases, they allegedly tried to get fans of the stars to pay for access to the yet-unheard songs. In other efforts, its been reported that they tried to get special attention for one of the suspects who is trying to break into the music business. One of the stars was apparently being blackmailed by the hackers!
What tripped them up were the suspicions of the fans of one star in particular who took their worries to the authorities who then investigated. That just proves that even in this global cybercrime economy, one person can make a difference! I meet so many cybercrime victims who don’t report the problems to law enforcement, thinking the problem is too big and their issue too small for it to matter. Please report all such crimes to your local law enforcement, your financial institution, and to the federal government at www.ic3.gov.