It"s a nightmare for anyone who has had their financial information exposed for all to see on a public website, and this week its been happening to a long list of well-known people in the entertainment, sports and political world. Today, it also happened to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.
Naked Security reports that Gates" Social Security number, residential address, credit report and other financial information appeared on a website called "Secret Files," which has been posting similar information on many celebrities such as Al Gore, Michelle Obama, Beyoncé and others. The information seems to have been taken by the three credit report companies; Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
So far, there"s no word on exactly how the people behind this effort are getting this private information, but the FBI is currently investigating the matter. It does not appear that the credit info has been lifted from a server via a hacker attack. Rather, it is believed that the people who are posting this information are somehow posing as the celebrities to these credit companies and gathering this data.
Ironically, Gates talked about cyber security today in an Washington Post video interview, where he said, "The cyber thing — it’s wonderful that more attention is going into that." We have a feeling Gates might be putting some more attention into his own personal cyber security from now on.
Source: Naked Security | Image via Microsoft