Security Measures That Can Be Taken Amid Recent 'Celebgate' Hack

POMONA (CBSLA.com) — A cybersecurity expert weighed in Tuesday on measures that can be taken to protect against the dangers of being hacked amid the recent "Celebgate."

Actress Jennifer Lawrence and model Kate Upton were among 100-plus celebrities who were exposed when their private accounts were hacked, resulting in the leak of some very private photos and videos.

On Tuesday, federal law enforcement officials announced the arrest of a 36-year-old Pennsylvania man named Ryan Collins, who they allege was involved in "Celebgate."

Prosecutors say using a phishing scheme, Collins sent the victims an email that looked like they originated from Apple or Google asking them to provide user names or passwords.

Investigators allege that when he got into their accounts, some of which were stored on a cloud, Collins found the personal information, which later ended up online.

He has since been charged with hacking into the accounts, but investigators say there is no evidence linking him to the actual leaking or uploading of the content.

Mike Zozaya, a cybersecurity expert, hopes "Celebgate" will teach an important lesson.

"It always comes down to the user and you being smart with your information and data," he said, adding that those who have private information on their computer or phone should make sure they know who is asking for that information and secure it.

"One big one I would say is encryption, because if you are encrypting information that's on your own personal drive and it requires either a password from you but also maybe a token or a key of some sort, if someone else gets access to that data, it's useless to them because it is completely encrypted," he said.

Zozaya says hacking is not very difficult these days as people aren't protecting their data or accounts. He also recommends using different passwords and changing them often.