The latest high profile hacking victim could be none other than The Terminator himself.
Officials from the California Highway Patrol are investigating whether the computers of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office were hacked in multiple breaches and illegal downloads, according to a report today in the San Francisco Chronicle.
The hacking may have be connected to a private, taped conversation being leaked to the Los Angeles Times in which Schwarzenegger referred to black and Latino lawmakers as having "hot" blood.
The governor, a Republican in the midst of a reelection battle, has publicly apologized for the comments.
Schwarzenegger could be the second nationally known politician to be hacked in two months.
In the heat of last month's fiercely contested Connecticut Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, former vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman's website suffered an apparently DoS attack.
His then-campaign manager, Sean Smith, told MSNBC's "Hardball" program at the time that the site was hacked by political opponents.
State and federal officials vowed to investigate the hacking.
Ron O'Brien, senior security analyst for Sophos, said politically-motivated hackings would be no surprise to experts.
"Once you get beyond the immediate monetary gain that can be obtained through hacking, the next logical sequence is to use it for other purposes," he said.
O'Brien added that customers looking to protect themselves from hackers also must exercise good judgment about what they say in conversations saved to PCs.
"What's happening is that our best practices are being expanded, and if we are protecting data for you, you should be aware of what the contents are," he said. "If you have doubts about something it shouldn't be included in an email or an instant message."
"Think before you click," he said.
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