Hi °C | Lo °C A criminal investigation is under way after a hacker broke into email accounts belonging to members of the Bush family and their close friends, publishing phone numbers, home security codes and a picture of George HW Bush during his recent hospital stay.
According to The Smoking Gun website, which broke the news of the hack, the emails were sent between 2009 and 2012, the most recent of them at the end of December when the 41st US president's five children were exchanging messages about the arrangement for a possible funeral. The most sensitive account breached was that of Dorothy Bush Koch, daughter of George HW Bush, pictured, and sister of George W Bush, the 43rd president.
The hacked material contains a series of photographs of paintings by the 41st president, including one of Mr Bush naked in the shower. The emails were apparently sent by Mr Bush to his sister Dorothy, and also contained a shot of Mr Bush painting at his easel.
Mystery surrounds the exact identity of the hacker, who identifies himself as "Guccifer", a title printed in a watermark across the hacked photos. The hacker told The Smoking Gun in an email exchange that "the feds" began investigating him a "long time ago", and that he has hacked "hundreds of accounts".
Whoever Guccifer is, he told The Smoking Gun that he had no fears of the consequences of his actions.
"I have an old game with the f***ing bastards inside, this is just another chapter in the game," he wrote.
Irish Independent
