Hackers Release Tony Blair's Address Book

Hackers this past weekend released what they claim to be private information belonging to Tony Blair.

Though all of the recent news regarding hacking has many of us on our toes with regard to online security, it seems hackers got to former prime minister Tony Blair before he could properly safeguard against attacks. Mr. Blair's national insurance number, address book and contact details and CV of special adviser Katie Kay have allegedly been posted online by hacking group TeaMp0isoN.

According to a post on Pastebin published by TeaMp0isoN, the group obtained the information in December of 2010 and still has access to the webmail service. The group says that while phone numbers may have changed, "all the information is 100% legit."

A spokesperson for Tony Blair told CNN the information was not obtained from Tony Blair or any of his office systems.

"This information has not been obtained from Tony Blair or any of his office systems," he said. "This appears to be information from the personal email account of a former member of staff from a few years ago."

The importance of being safe and protecting your data online has never been more obvious -- with so much hacking going on, there's definitely an added emphasis on ensuring we do everything possible to protect ourselves in case of attack. Of course, you can only do so much from a consumer level -- a huge part of the responsibility is on the companies handling your data -- still, you can do your best by making certain you use different passwords for all your accounts and change them regularly.