Paris Hilton’s cell phone

I am a not so closet fan of pop culture. One thing that’s driving me crazy is this confusion over the hacking of Paris Hilton’s cell phone. Am I mistaken or was it actually her online database (on T-mobile?) that was hacked, a website that happens to be connected to her cell phone (SideKick)? Either reporters are incurious and are too lazy to understand how the technology works. OR, and this is more likely, it’s more sensational to report on a potentially new vulnerability, the hacking of cellphones that so many people now own. It’s like people worrying that computers, which aren’t connected to the Internet, will get hacked.

Or maybe this story has received so much coverage just because we’re supposed to feel sorry for the celebrities?

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 24th, 2005 at 11:19 pm and is filed under General, social construction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “Paris Hilton’s cell phone”

  1. Jean-Sebastien says:
    2/25/2005 at 3:33 am

    Paparazzis can now work from home! No need to chase celebrities anymore, they just have
    to hack their cellphones and get all their camera shots.
    🙂

  2. pete says:
    2/25/2005 at 11:47 am

    I was a little worried by the headline on ctv.ca, so I read the article (I usually take care to avoid direct exposure to Hilton and her ilk). Seems her phone was more of a computer with a phone function, and its OS was not patched. However, it is not clear that this is where the hackers got the info. Doesnt seem like “normal” cell phones are at risk just yet.

  3. Liam says:
    2/25/2005 at 8:51 pm

    I read something a little while ago about how most people who had wireless enabled (bluetooth included) PDA’s and cellphones were entirely unaware, allowing anyone with an interest and the wherewithal could get at most of that data just by being within range. So PDA’s may not require internet access to not be secure.

    I must say I’m absolutely SHOCKED Paris Hilton could be one of those people.

  4. sieber says:
    2/27/2005 at 1:35 pm

    An article in today’s NYTimes, Some Sympathy for Paris Hilton says it all, “the message is clear: once privacy is gone, there’s no snatching it back. And in cyberspace, everyone is naked.”

  5. Jen says:
    3/1/2005 at 12:13 am

    I don’t think the reporters are necessarily to blame for not keeping up with technology – who can? do we really nead all this stuff… most of it I’ve never even heard of, let alone understand or even have ANY use for!