14 DAY TRIAL // An unidentified hacker has managed to hijack Nicolas Sarkozy's Facebook account and post a fake announcement about his intention to not seek re-election in 2012.
On Sunday night, the French President's nearly 400,000 Facebook fans got to see a poorly spelled update announcing that he doesn't plan to run for re-election when his mandate is over.
The message was the work of a hacker who, by means that remain unknown, obtained unauthorized access to Mr. Sarkozy's account.
The fake announcement linked to a Facebook page that invited people to celebrate his resignation on May 6, 2012, at the Le Fouquet's restaurant in Paris, the place where the president celebrated his election to office in 2007.
In a new update posted on his Facebook page today, Mr. Sarkozy wrote that the hacking incident served to remind him that no system is foolproof.
The president also stressed that he doesn't agree with the conclusions of the fake announcement. "Thanks to those who have recognized the error, and thank you again for your support," he concluded.
This is not the first time when Mr. Sarkozy has problems with hackers. In October 2008, a French newspaper reported that his bank account was compromised and small sums of money were fraudulently withdrawn.
It would be interesting to learn exactly how the hacker managed to gain access to the Facebook account. An easy to guess password is a possibility, but so is phishing or a computer compromise, which would be more serious.
"Don't forget - whether you're famous or a regular guy in the street, you still need to be careful with your passwords and ensure that hackers can't break into your online accounts," advises Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos.