Celebrity Twitter accounts hit by hackers - CNET

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Attention, Jack Black fans: The actor is "alive and well" despite a tweet claiming he had passed to the great beyond.

Black was one of several celebrities caught in a hoax in which Twitter accounts of famous peeps were compromised. Other celebrities whose accounts were taken over included musician Keith Richards and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Hacks against website and social media accounts aren't unusual, and hackers often go after celebrities for notoriety and in an attempt to embarrass them publicly. A major part of the problem is that people often use passwords that are easy to guess, and they use the same ones across multiple sites. That leaves them vulnerable to hackers who procure even one password.

Reports claim that some of the passwords were obtained as a result of a 2012 hack against professional networking site LinkedIn. In mid-May, LinkedIn announced that hackers stole and released more than 100 million members' email and password combinations.

The latest hacks put affected celebrities in an awkward position. After regaining control of its Twitter account, Black's music group, Tenacious D, sent a tweet Sunday stating: "WE had our Twitter account . We can assure you that Jack is ALIVE and WELL and that this was a sick 'prank.'"