Paris Hilton's phone numbers continued to be the hot search item on the Web Tuesday, as surfers hoped to get the phone numbers of dozens of Hollywood celebrities whose contact information was leaked courtesy of the socialite's hacked T-Mobile Sidekick II device.

The nature of the hack of Hilton's Sidekick II is currently under investigation, though T-Mobile said in a widely published statement that one of the possibilities was someone may have known Hilton's password.

"T-Mobile's computer forensics and security team is actively investigating to determine how Ms. Hilton's information was obtained," the T-Mobile statement said. "This includes the possibility that someone had access to one of Ms. Hilton's devices and/or knew her account password."

T-Mobile also told its Sidekick users to regularly change their passwords and use complex passwords to improve their own level of security. Just yesterday, CompTIA (Computing Technology Industry Association) issued a press release underscoring the importance of secure passwords for end users.

According to CompTIA research in 2004, 84 percent of the almost 900 organizations it surveyed blamed human error as being partially responsible for recent security breaches. Many of those "human errors" were rooted in poor password security.

CompTIA said it recommends users maintaining four passwords for IT usage and that the password should include a combination of numbers, letters and punctuation marks. They also recommend that passwords be changed at least every 90 days.

Contact information from Hilton's address book was widely available early Tuesday, though by mid-afternoon most of the sites that had posted the information decided to pull it down for fear of legal repercussions.

"Sorry you couldn't enjoy the fun sooner. [I] hope this makes you realize [that] in the electronic age you are not safe from prying eyes. Oh also Hi Paris!," one post said. Other sites also denied they were the original source for the hacked information.

A weak password may not have necessarily been the lynchpin that leaked the amateur film starlet's Sidekick info. T-Mobile has been the victim of hacking infiltration before. This past January, the wireless provider took action against an alleged hacker that had stolen Social Security numbers, account names and passwords, and even digital photos taken by customers from its network.

Calls to Hilton were not returned by press time.

Sidekick II
Like Research In Motion's BlackBerry handhelds, Sidekick's main role is to support mobile messaging and communications, with a QWERTY thumb-keyboard to boot. Unlike BlackBerries with their businesslike, utilitarian design, Sidekicks/hiptops are decidedly sleeker and more colorful—clearly designed to appeal to the young and hip.

Though it is called Sidekick II, the newest version is really the third generation of the platform. The first edition used a monochrome display, while the second model added a color screen. Sidekick II delivers much the same features as the first two, but in a more compact and powerful package.

Sidekick II is 25-percent smaller than the previous model. It also integrates its camera as well as a flash to make picture taking more user-friendly. (Snapping images with earlier Sidekicks required an awkward camera attachment.)


Rear Veiw: Sidekick II as Camera

Sidekick II maintains the hiptop platform's distinctive swivel design, whereby its display slides open to uncover its QWERTY keyboard. T-Mobile bundles a number of messaging applications to keep Sidekick-users' thumbs busy.

Software includes a free e-mail account and the ability set up three external e-mail accounts for delivery on the Sidekick II. There is 6MB of memory for storing e-mail and other documents. Users can view attachments too, including Word, image, and PDF files. Lastly, Yahoo! Messenger is now available for download in addition to the previously supported AOL Instant Messenger service.

Phone-wise, T-Mobile and Danger added a speakerphone to Sidekick II. In addition, several buttons on the outside of the device make it easier to use as a mobile handset, while a separate keypad has been inserted within the QWERTY keyboard for dialing numbers. The companies promise 4.5 hours of talk time from a single charge of the battery.

At the time of the Sidekick II announcement, T-Mobile said it will offer customers a myriad of ways to personalize their new Sidekicks, such as downloadable ringtones based on chart-topping songs, voice messages from music celebrities announcing incoming calls, and games over-the-air. Taking its cue from other mobile device vendors, T-Mobile will sell seven color bumpers to customize the Sidekick's appearance.

For more on the smartphone, see Review: Sidekick II - T-Mobile's Cool New Smartphone.