Mitt Romney (AP)
Hackers teed off on Tiger Woods and Mitt Romney, publicizing their private financial data in the latest batch of celebrity cyber attacks.
The mysterious thieves scored full credit reports, Social Security numbers, phone numbers and other financial data on both men, TMZ reports today.
Woods and Romney now join a long A-list of recent reported cyber-hacking victims, who include Eric Holder, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, Sarah Palin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, Joe Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama.
“We are aware of recent media reports pertaining to unauthorized access to files belonging to high-profile individuals,” Tim Klein, a spokesman for the credit-rating service Equifax.
“Equifax can confirm that fraudulent and unauthorized access to four consumer credit reports has occurred.”
Both the FBI and the Secret Service said they’re aggressively investigating.
National Intelligence Director James Clapper told lawmakers yesterday they threat of cyber attacks cannot be taken lightly.
“It’s a world in which our definition of war now includes a soft version. We can add cyber and financial to the list of weapons being used against us. And such attacks can be deniable and non-attributable,” Clapper told US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“So when it comes to distinct threat areas, our statement this year leads with cyber, and it’s hard to overemphasize its significance. Increasingly state and non-state actors are gaining and using — using cyber expertise.”
Cyber hackers threaten “critical infrastructures” and not just bold-faced names.
“These capabilities put all sectors of our county — country at risk from government and private networks to critical infrastructures,” Clapper said.
President Obama acknowledged the cyber attack on his wife and said he’s not surprised by the level of sophistication shown by these virtual thieves.
“We should not be surprised that if we’ve got hackers that want to dig in and have a lot of resources, that they can access this information,” Obama told ABC News. “Again, not sure how accurate but … you’ve got Web sites out there that tell people’s credit card info. That’s how sophisticated they are.”