In light of the recent hacking among users of Apple's iCloud services, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it is already looking into the incident to resolve the issue the soonest possible time. Dozens of nude photos of celebrities were leaked online over the Labor Day holiday from a suspected breach in an Apple Inc.'s service.
Included in the list of victims are Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, Mary Kate Olsen, Cara Delevinge, Kate Bosworth, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst, and Kaley Cuoco. The hackers claimed that a lot more will be released in the coming days, though Jeff Schilling of cloud service provider Firehost doubts about the authenticity of the stolen files.
Singer Ariana Grande's representative told BuzzFeed that the photos leaked are fake. The "Yours Truly" hitmaker took to Twitter her message to fans, "To every1 going on about my 'nudes' & my 'm&g prices' [meet and greet prices] neither are real. My lil ass is a lot cuter than that lmao & tour details r comin soon."
Meanwhile, experts say that the breach on iCloud service could have originated from Apple's own servers or the users' accounts. In 2013, the Cupertino-based phone and laptop manufacturer released the "Find My iPhone" feature of the service that allows a double-tier security blanket on every iCloud user. This enables the account holder to authorize a trusted device aside from passwords.
On the other hand, Liz Mahoney, publicist of actress Jennifer Lawrence, called the action a "flagrant violation of privacy." In an official statement, Lawrence's representative reiterated that anyone who will be caught guilty of posting stolen photos will be subject to legal prosecution.
Sports Illustrated model Kate Upton's attorney also expressed the same sentiment in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. "This is obviously an outrageous violation of our client Kate Upton's privacy," Upton's representative furthered. "We intend to pursue anyone disseminating or duplicating these illegally obtained images to the fullest extent possible," The Guardian reported.
Dan Ackerman, a senior editor at CNET, warned the public that hackers are constantly looking for information lying on the cyberspace vulnerable for an attack. According to him, celebrities and public personalities become a usual target due to readily available data and profiles.
"If you think about it, you have multiple copies (of your data). There's a chance anything you put up in the cloud, it's available in some way. If (hackers are) not looking for it, less so really," Ackerman said.