In an exclusive interview with ABC News today, President Obama confirmed authorities were investigating whether hackers had indeed obtained and posted online financial information belonging to his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, and nearly a dozen celebrity A-listers and political heavy hitters.
"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 said. "Again, not sure how accurate but ... you've got web sites out there that tell pepole's credit card info. That's how sophisticated they are."On Monday, a web site posted what hackers claim to be Social Security numbers, credit reports, former addresses and personal banking information of celebrities and top Washington, D.C., officials.
The hackers claim to have what appears to be first lady's credit report, Social Security number and phone numbers.
Other targets include Vice President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, FBI director Robert Mueller, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.Information posted about Biden and Clinton did not include credit reports but included addresses and other sensitive information. Sources told ABC News that it would take a long time to track the digital trail.
Law enforcement officials including the FBI and Secret Service were trying to determine how much of the information was authentic and how it might have been compromised.
This morning, ABC News tried calling a number listed for Biden and it turned out to be a local business in Delaware.
"The Department is aware of the report and the FBI is investigating the matter," a Department of Justice spokesperson told ABC News.
The site's so-called "secret files" claim to reveal everything from how much Kim Kardashian pays for her car lease to Ashton Kutcher's American Express bill and even Paris Hilton's credit score.
Beyonce, Jay Z, Mel Gibson, Britney Spears, Hulk Hogan, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Donald Trump were some of the other celebrities who were allegedly hacked. ABC News reached out to them overnight, but they did not respond to calls for comment.
Kardashian, Hilton and Kutcher have also not responded to ABC News' request for a comment on the hacking allegations.
Gibson's rep told ABC News that they haven't verified that he has been hacked.
ABC News is not disclosing the website's name, which appears to originate in Russia because the Internet suffix of the site's web address was originally assigned to the Soviet Union.
ABC News consultant and former FBI agent Brad Garrett said the entire site could be a fraud designed to embarrass those in the public eye.
"I'm very suspect [about] information released online. It goes against the very reason you steal them, it's to use them," Garrett said. "Is this a prank? Is this a hoax? Is it to get attention? That wouldn't surprise me one bit."
The possible security breach extends to Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck as 30 pages of his personal financial data appears to have been exposed.
"If we find the individuals -- and I'm confident that we will -- that are responsible, we will prosecute them," Beck said.
"It's just a creepy thing that people do every once in a while, is put police officer's names, their family members' names, their addresses on web sites," Los Angeles police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said.Smith told The Associated Press confidential information on top police officials has been posted online at least twice before. Smith said the LAPD was investigating any posting of information on any celebrities who live in the city and request an inquiry.
"Some hackers sort of get into brinksmanship. And they want to try to see, 'Well, this is a well-known person, probably has a lot of security. Let's see if I can hack through their system,'" Garrett said.
Several of the pages featured unflattering pictures of the celebrities or government officials whose information was posted.
The site's homepage, which features an image of a girl with her eyes covered in black makeup, had more than 111,000 hits as of 7:15 a.m. ET.
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