14 DAY TRIAL // Two Frenchmen have been arrested for hacking into ASMALLWORLD, a private social network for VIPs. After the intrusion, the two allegedly attempted to extort $1 million from the website's admins by threatening to disclose sensitive information.
ASMALLWORLD is a social-networking service for the social elite. Membership is invitation-based and its members "are connected by three degrees of separation." The website offers much of the features found on public social networks, but, due to its exclusive nature, there are strict social rules that govern it and people can get kicked out (exiled) for breaking them.
The socialites and VIPs frequenting ASMALLWORLD can exchange information about anything from travel destinations, high-quality clubs in cities around the globe or social events to business opportunities. The network's critics frequently refer to it as "Snobster," a term coined from snob and Friendster.
The French police have arrested two suspects in Paris and Gironde for obtaining unauthorized access to ASMALLWORLD's user database and copying confidential information. Back in May, the hackers allegedly tried to blackmail several website administrators by threatening to release data about the registered members onto the Internet if they did not get paid one million dollars.
According to ASMALLWORLD Holdings Inc., the company running the website, the risk to its high-profile users was rather small, because there was no financial or sensitive information stored in the compromised database. Nevertheless, the authorities were notified and the French police's special division for fighting cybercrime, L'Office Central de Lutte contre la Criminalitée liée aux Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication (O.C.L.C.T.I.C), and the FBI collaborated on the investigation that eventually led to the arrest of the two Frenchmen.
"We are pleased with the arrests and are continuing to cooperate with the authorities. From the time of the initial intrusion we took immediate and decisive steps to improve our data security. We continue to make security a priority and have reduced the risk of a future security breach. ASW will always prosecute those who seek to damage the community to the full extent of the law," Joe Robinson, ASMALLWORLD's CEO, commented for the Huffington Post.
Meanwhile, François Paget, a senior virus research engineer at McAfee, advises that, "Whether you mingle with the jet set or in other circles, be careful when you share information on your favorite social network platform!"