In January this year the Facebook account of the French President Nicholas Sarkozy was hacked into and the following message posted onto it:

"Dear Compatriots, given the exceptional circumstances our country is experiencing, I have decided in my spirit and conscience not to run for office again at the end of my mandate in 2012."

This was not the first successful hacking attempt against the President of France. In 2008, President Sarkozy filed a complaint with the police following withdrawals of "small amounts of money" from his personal Parisian bank account. It is alleged that the money was used to set up mobile phone subscriptions. Interestingly, the President was a victim of a mass Phishing attack; presumably a fake email linking to a fraudulent bank site where he entered his bank account and password. In this case he was not specifically targeted.

Celebrities the world over are specifically targeted due to their status, riches and if they are unfortunate to have stalker fans. Besides compromised email, Twitter and Facebook accounts they are vulnerable to cybersquatting (where their domain name is taken over by another individual) and malicious attachments in fan mail. In a few cases celebrity accounts have been hacked through back end systems of social networks. 

Celebrities’ lives are open books with a significant amount of detail about personal life and sexual preferences. This detail makes it easier for a hacker to guess passwords, answers to secret questions or send a credential stealing malware.

When a celebrity account is hacked the typical reward for returning the site to the original owner includes a demand for money, sex or nude pictures.

Celebrities who use social media like Twitter and Facebook to interact with fans, in many cases hire media firms to manage these accounts. It is important to ensure that the media firms who employ teams with access to the celebrity’s account and personal data protect its confidentiality through the use of security best practices.

For celebrities who manage their own social media, it is important to recognize the heightened risk and ensure passwords used for online accounts are strong (certainly not the name of your pet dog as an answer to your secret question) and to follow safe principles while downloading Internet content or attachments in fan email.

Fake celebrity sites are plentiful on the Internet. In times of a major celebrity event such as the death of Michael Jackson security experts observe a surge in fake sites with celebrity news and content designed to attract users with the sole purpose of infecting user desktops with malicious content to send spam or steal credentials. It is preferable to read celebrity news on reputed sites and restrict opening attachments in chain mails or downloading from unknown websites.

So, who looks after the information security of celebrities, sportsmen and women and VIP’s in general in Britain?

There are very few people with the required accreditations in the UK. One company with the required clearance is CyberVIPer – a company based in the South of England which specialises in protecting the data and information security of the rich and famous.

CyberVIPer’s tasks are wide and varied. Ranging from cleaning and protecting computer systems on super yachts through to ensuring that paparazzi do not hack clients’ cellphones and computers.

All CyberVIPer’s work takes place discreetly. Its managing director (nameless) was asked for a quote for this article and refused. All he said was that business was booming.

It seems many celebrities are keeping up with the monumental speed with which cyber security is changing. One wonders whether the News of the World hacking revelations and the succession of failed Bulgarian celebrity kidnap stories (the model Jordan aka Katie Price and the Beckhams spring to mind) have opened up the eyes of celebrities in Britain and elsewhere to the growing need for bodyguards on and off line.