Embarrassing hack has movie studio turning fifty shades of red

A hack doesn't always target your personal secrets or your bank account. If you're a celebrity, sometimes a rumor does enough damage on its own.

Ever since the naughty bestseller "Fifty Shades of Grey" arrived on the scene, the public has been wondering about the inevitable film adaptation. A recent announcement that former Harry Potter star Emma Watson would be the film's heroine must have come as a shock to many…including Watson herself. Because she hasn't actually been cast.

The news comes courtesy not of an official press release but a data security breach into German studio Constantin films that resulted in the leaking of documents, among them one confirming Watson's involvement. But the studio has denied that this is true, claiming that the compromised information is outdated.

Watson herself took to Twitter to address the incident, saying "Who here actually thinks I would do 50 Shades of Grey as a movie? Like really. For real. In real life." At least she's still got her social media reputation intact.

These days, a studio has to be as concerned about its data security as its casting choices. It's just a good thing they figured this out before the wrong movie got made.

John Sileo is a cyber security expert and keynote speaker on privacy, identity and reputation protection. His clients included the Department of Defense, Pfizer, and Homeland Security. See his recent media appearances on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper and Fox Business.

Posted by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo in Cyber Data Security and tagged data security, data security breach, social media reputation.