Obama's personal mobile phone hacked by Verizon employees

NEW YORK: Telecommunications major Verizon Wireless has said that some company employees had accessed the personal mobile phone account of US president-elect Barack Obama without authorisation and action would be taken for their improper conduct. The cell phone account has been inactive for several months. Verizon Wireless President and Chief Executive Lowell McAdam said in a statement that appropriate disciplinary action would be taken against those who have accessed the account improperly. "This week we learnt that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorisation, accessed and viewed president-elect Barack Obama's personal cellphone account. "The account has been inactive for several months. The device on the account was a simple voice flip-phone, not a Black Berry or other smartphone designed for e-mail or other data services," McAdam said. Apologising to Obama, the chief executive said that all the employees who have accessed the account, irrespective of being authorised or not, have been "put on immediate leave, with pay". "As the circumstances of each individual employee's access to the account are determined, the company will take appropriate actions," the statement noted. Employees with legitimate business needs for access would be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification would face appropriate disciplinary action, it added. from timesofindia.com