Celebrity Private Photos Hacked and Released on the Internet
On August 31, 2014 over a dozen celebrity nude photos were released on the Internet causing excitement and panic. Investigators believe the content was obtained by one or many 4Chan users who then posted the racy images to 4Chan and Reddit. However, due to 4Chan’s anonymous user policy, the exact person or persons responsible for the hack remains unknown. For those unfamiliar with 4Chan, it’s an image board website where anyone can anonymously post on the boards with minimal rules imposed on the content. Making for an ideal place to post the private photos with limited repercussions. As important as it is to answer the question of “Who did it?” there comes along the following question of “How’d they do it?” After Sunday’s release, investigators scrambled to find how the hackers managed to obtain such a large pool of celebrity pictures. One anonymous user claimed to have breached iCloud’s security system causing Apple to take immediate action. The user explained they accessed the images through the celebrities personal iCloud accounts, but did not give the exact details. Investigators speculate the user may have exploited a bug found in Apple’s iCloud service and employed the tactic known as “social engineering”. The tactic occurs when the hacker obtains the target’s online service information, personal information, and tricks the service into resetting a password by guessing the correct answers to security questions allowing them access to the account. Since the incident, Apple has proposed a new security procedure involving a two-stage authentication, which will require a second password. Authorities have also reached out to any image hosting websites to take down or ban any user who posts the notorious photographs. Although these pictures are a breach of privacy, permanently taking down the photos is almost nearly impossible once it’s on the internet.
Jennifer Lawrence at the premiere of the film “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” in London on Nov. 11, 2013. (AFP/Getty Images)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/leaks-of-nude-celebrity-photos-raise-concerns-about-security-of-the-cloud/2014/09/01/59dcd37e-3219-11e4-8f02-03c644b2d7d0_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop
http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/01/find-my-iphone-exploit/
http://www.businessinsider.com/icloud-naked-celebrity-photo-leak-2014-9
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-fixes-security-flaw-in-find-my-iphone-software-2014-9
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/02/the-shadowy-world-of-4chan-the-shock-post-site-that-hosted-the-private-jennifer-lawrence-photos/
Views All Time
Views Today