Hacker Tweaks Twitter Celebs

Beijing rejects notion it was involved in phishing campaign

(NEWSER) - China has rejected the notion that it was involved in a phishing campaign that hacked into the Gmail accounts of US government officials and Chinese activists, the BBC and the Telegraph report today. Google yesterday claimed the campaign originated in Jinan , although it did not directly blame the Chinese government. Even so, a foreign ministry spokesperson says that "blaming these misdeeds on China is unacceptable," adding that "the claims of so-called Chinese state support for hacking are completely fictitious and have ulterior motives." More»

Simple precautions can keep info out of scammers' hands

(NEWSER) - Phishing scams are becoming a lot more sophisticated. Unwary Internet users can easily end up with their bank account and credit card details in the hands of crooks. CNET lists the best ways to avoid becoming a victim:

• Change passwords regularly. Experts recommend that passwords be changed every three months or so, and warn against using the same password for multiple sites.
• Click with caution. Any apparently legitimate email asking you to click a link to another site—especially if it mentions updating security information—could be from a rogue site. It's safer just to type in the URL yourself.

Also: Is Megan Fox dating co-star?

(NEWSER) - Never fear: Britney Spears is alive. A post from her Twitter account claiming she had died is false, the AP reports, a result of the hacking of her Twitpic account. Ellen DeGeneres’ account with Twitpic—a program not owned by Twitter—was also hacked. Elsewhere:

• Rumors continue to fly that Transformers co-stars Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf are dating. “They definitely seemed into each other” at a recent dinner, a source tells the New York Daily News.

Puzzling hit, but most hacked tied to spammers or dupe accounts

(NEWSER) - The usernames and passwords of more than 55,000 Twitter tweeters were leaked online Monday in a data dump that has puzzled experts. Twitter says that at least 20,000 of the leaked accounts were duplicates, and many more were spam accounts that had already been suspended, InformationWeek reports. Password resets have been sent out to affected accounts, and the possible security breach is being investigated, Twitter says. More»

She deletes tweets after anti-Romney rant

(NEWSER) - Don't expect Cher to sing a duet with Ted Nugent any time soon. If Mitt Romney "gets elected I don't know if I can breathe same air as Him & his Right Wing Racist Homophobic Women-Hating Tea Bagger Masters," she wrote in one of several tweets yesterday that were later deleted, E! Online reports. "They care nothing about the POOR The OLD The SICK The HUNGRY CHILDREN & People striving 4 a Better Life." Told by a fellow Twitter user that her remarks probably cost her half her fans, she responded: "Thank God I Got the half that thinks!" More»