Online photo hack can easily happen to anyone, experts say

After the mass hacking of celebrities' personal data this week, some people are wondering how safe their own online photos and information really is.

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Eric Lamoureux is the president of a Windsor-based company that monitors security networks said there are automated hacking programs that can break web passwords within hours.

Lamoureaux said visiting certain website can make certain people an easy target.

"They actually have viruses on those sites that ask you to register. As soon as you register, now they have more information," he said. "That's where they get their starting point."

He said some people won't realize they've been hacked until it's too late.

"Until the next time that they've gone into the bank or they checked their credit card balances or they've check their account statements and say, 'Geeze, I didn't really withdraw that amount of money.'"

Andy Kale is co-owner of Red Piston, a Windsor company that develops games for cell phones, he said his company will only take the information people allow, such as posting game scores on social media sites like Facebook.

"On the android side, there are a lot of apps out there, especially a lot of free apps, that say that they're doing one thing and then do something completely different, so you have to be really diligent about who the developer is, check out the other apps that they've done."

Kale said if people are using WiFi or are on a public computer they shouldn't use any site that requires a password. He also said people should stay off sites that ask for personal information.

Lamoureux agrees and advises that people should be constantly changing their passwords.

"Most people have three or four character/digit passwords. The reality is automated hacking programs can break those in a matter of hours."