Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said government officials, corporate executives and the general public should be mindful of their personal information to avoid being hacked, Fedscoop reported Monday.
Shaun Waterman writes Chertoff issued the warning in light of reports about a U.S. high school student who said he has accessed CIA Director John Brennan’s and DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson’s private email accounts.
The hacker disclosed to the New York Post that he used social engineering tactics to hack personal data of government officials and that his act was motivated by his opposition to violence against Palestinian people and U.S. foreign policy, Waterman noted.
“Even encrypted email is only as secure as the weakest link,” Chertoff told Fedscoop.
“It’s a lesson we all have to learn,†he added.
