Digital Music News reports that “the art of stalking has now gone digital.” A 27 year old fan of Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington was able to acquire phone numbers and photographs by hacking into his mobile phone. The woman had apparently also been able to get into Bennington’s personal email account and made threats against his wife.
This woman is said to have used a computer at her former employer Sandia National Laboratories, a nuclear weapons research and testing laboratory, to carry out her acts.
Being the subject of stalking by a fan, I am sure is unnerving enough for celebrities. The addition of yet another means of stalking and the breaching of ones security is even more cause for concern. However, it is disturbing to me to think that this woman worked where research and testing of nuclear weapons was taking place.
Lab spokesman Michael Padilla said that the woman’s computer “wasn’t connected to classified data.” That is little comfort to me - it also wasn't connected to Chester Bennington's mobile phone and email! I feel for Chester Bennington and his wife and anyone subjected to stalking, but it concerns me that a person such as this woman would be hired by a company dealing with such sensitive matters and that this part of the story seems to be of so little concern to anyone.