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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday February 16 2017, @01:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the i-am-in-the-wrong-profession dept.

From www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/a3460256.html

Rapidly becoming more important than even the 24/7 hairdresser, the social media manager and the "paleo genius" personal chef, top cyber-security consultants are the most in-demand for the super-rich, business tycoons and the A-list as they look to keep their embarrassing secrets, naked photos and diva-ish demands out of the hands of hackers.

After Beckileaks, those consultants might just be ramping up their rates because, for brand-reliant celebrities, the financial damage, reputational risk and sheer embarrassment of such revelations are one of the most serious threats to their careers.

[...] Benjamin Arnold, whose SORTED personal management firm acts as a fixer for London's super-rich, says "There's been a definite increase in concern about cyber-protection among high-net-worth [HNW] and celebrity clients, especially following hacking incidents such as the [Lawrence] iCloud hack which exposed — quite literally — a number of high-profile celebrities. We are all exposed to the same risk but high-profile or HNW individuals are at a much bigger threat, as the value of their assets make them more of a target."

His clients will pay "anything from £2,500 up to £15,000 for a security sweep" and another £5,000 for training, "putting in best practice for the family, just as you would for locking up the house". It's small cash for some celebs, who believe that a brutal data-hack could cost them their career.

[...] Consultants say one-off "cyber-hygiene" sessions, costing as much as £3,000, are increasingly popular: tech sleuths will comb through clients' smartphones, laptops, tablets, external hard drives and cloud accounts, set up two-factor authentication (where logging into, say, a Gmail or Twitter account involves filling in a unique code that's sent to a smartphone), work on complex passwords (and insist on clients using different ones for every account), set up encrypted email services and install cyber-security software onto their home and work networks.


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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday February 16 2017, @05:08PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 16 2017, @05:08PM (#467876) Journal

    It sounds like hacking has become a booming business. Maybe that means the tax returns will be made public at some point.

    Hackers have all sorts of different motives. Money. Fame. Politics. Sex. As an escape from having to venture forth from the basement to take the trash out.

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  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Friday February 17 2017, @05:24AM

    by anubi (2828) on Friday February 17 2017, @05:24AM (#468097) Journal

    And the most fearsome of all hacks... the revenge hack.

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    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
  • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Friday February 17 2017, @05:35AM

    by butthurt (6141) on Friday February 17 2017, @05:35AM (#468103) Journal

    The USA's tax agency acknowledged that criminals had gotten "data from more than 700,000 taxpayer accounts."

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/02/26/cyber-hack-gained-access-more-than-700000-irs-accounts/80992822/ [usatoday.com]