Hackers Get Tons Of Detailed Info On Nearly 1 Million Rich & Famous By Copying Major Limo Broker Service's Database

from the a-treasure-trove dept

Brian Krebs has yet another fascinating story from the hacking underground, where he’s discovered that hackers appear to have broken into the computer system for CorporateCarOnline, a service that brokers limos around the US, and grabbed a copy of their database — which appears to include a ton of information. This includes names, details and financial info on tons of A-list celebrities, sports stars and politicians. Krebs discloses some of the “notes” associated with some people, including LeBron James, Tom Hanks, Donald Trump, Aaron Rodgers, Rep. John Conyers, Senator Mark Udall and others. The note on Conyers apparently said: “Meet and Greet Baggage Claim. US Congressman. A DFTU situation,” which Krebs suspects stands for “don’t fuck this up.”

However, as Krebs notes, the database could be a field day for tabloids (and, one assumes, blackmailers), because the notes associated with certain passengers for things they may have done in those limos can, at times, be embarrassing.

Any two-bit tabloid would have an absolute field day with this database. Simple text searches for certain words (“sex,” “puke,” “arrest,” “police,” “smoking pot”) reveal dozens of records detailing misbehavior and all kinds of naughtiness by executives, celebrities and people you might otherwise expect to behave civilly.

For example, the following is an explanation taken from a limo reservation made back in May 2006 by a woman working for MTV. The limo in question was actually a stretch Hummer with capacity to seat 14 passengers, and was rented for the occasion of visiting a series of wineries in Long Island, NY. When the stretch Hummer returned to the shop after disgorging its passengers, the fleet’s owners discovered that the vehicle had been plastered with cheese slices and crackers, and that someone had left behind a sex toy

And, with that, you have to imagine that TMZ, Gawker and others just started trying to figure out how they get their hands on this database…

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Companies: corporate car online

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Comments on “Hackers Get Tons Of Detailed Info On Nearly 1 Million Rich & Famous By Copying Major Limo Broker Service's Database”

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25 Comments
Anonymous Coward says:

Re: If anything...

And then some, the amount of personal data would be enough to cripple online verification. That’s the kind of loss that would actually put national security as risk.
Their gung-ho attitude when it comes to the protection of national security is actually putting it at bigger risk than it ever has been in our entire history.

It only takes being hacked once and it’s not a matter of if it will happen but a matter of when.

silverscarcat (profile) says:

Re: Distraction. Meanwhile NSA goes on without pause.

Again, blue, I don’t need to use Google, in fact, I limit how much information any corporation has on me out there, it’s why I barely use Social Media for anything.

Google can only get information if I give it to them. The government can take my information without me giving consent.

weneedhelp - not signed in says:

Smells fishy

“because the notes associated with certain passengers for things they may have done in those limos can, at times, be embarrassing.” Why is a limo driver(s)keeping notes of what passengers do in the limo? Is there a camera somewhere? Most limos I have been in have a darkened partition between the cab and back. Something doesn’t add up with that statement.

Anon-Y-Mouse says:

News of this couldn’t have come out at a better time. So many rich people’s lives exposed a bit more.

“because the notes associated with certain passengers for things they may have done in those limos can, at times, be embarrassing.” Why is a limo driver(s)keeping notes of what passengers do in the limo? Is there a camera somewhere? Most limos I have been in have a darkened partition between the cab and back. Something doesn’t add up with that statement.

Not fishy at all to me. They are keeping tabs on good vs. bad customers and how much cleanup may be needed after them. I bet that all gets factored into the price they get charged next time. 😉

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