Hackers Access Past Presidents’ Emails? Outrageous!

When reached by email about his father and brother getting hacked, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush called the hacking “outrageous.”

It looks like what website security companies have been telling us is true: even past presidents, without adequate protection, could potentially know what it feels like when hackers pry into our private lives and take whatever they want. A mysterious email hacker who goes by the online alias of “Guccifer” apparently accessed private photos and messages sent between members of the Bush family – including emails from both retired commanders in chief. 

The Smoking Gun website displayed photos it said came from the hacker, including one that purported to show the elder Bush during his recent stay in a Houston hospital where the 88 year-old spent almost two months undergoing treatment for complications from a bronchial infection.  Supposedly, the hacker gained access to the stolen material through the Bush’ family members and friends. 

The breach, which is being investigated by the Secret Service, illustrates how easily hackers can get into the private lives of even some of the most prominent and closely guarded political families. So if past presidents of the USA can have online information stolen from them, what does that say about our potential for getting hacked?

It says that we need to be safe. We need to have a quality computer security system and ensure that we visit sites that are safe. One way to tell is to look on websites for trust seals. These small images, created by a third-party verification company like Trust Guard, can inform consumers as to the legitimacy of the company that owns the website. 

The security seals can show whether or not the website is vulnerable to hackers or not based on the passing or failing of online scans that seek for holes that hackers use to access websites. If the site you’re on displays a security trust seal and its accompanying verification certificate, you can rest assured that the site you’re visiting is safe.

Thanks go out to Michael Graczyk from the Associated Press for much of the information found in this article.