Just when things were heading towards yet another great event and a few extremely anticipated launches for the company, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been forced into an undesirable situation – the worrisome iCloud hacking scandal that has made headlines world over.
Apple’s iCloud accounts were recently hacked which resulted in personal data theft. The hacked accounts belonged to celebrities and the stolen data included extremely personal and intimate pictures; the data was then leaked on the internet. Even though investigation are being made on a priority basis, but it won’t be wrong to say that the incident has already put a dent in Apple’s reputation and raised some serious questions regarding data security it provides to its users.
Taia Global’s CEO, Jeffrey Carr said that the hacker was able to get hold of a few passwords and targeted a few celebrities. Any information regarding celebrities can guarantee cash therefore they become the easy targets of such security breaches. He further said the safest way to stay secure is to keep your personal and important data offline.
According to Carr celebrity data thefts usually bring FBI into action because such pictures or information can easily be used to lure people into clicking links that lead to malware content. There is hardly a user on the internet who wouldn’t click on a headline saying “never before seen images of Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton”.
According to various sources and rumors over 100 celebrity accounts were hacked most of which were female celebrities. Like everything Apple does, this incident has also started a new frenzy of speculations and comments across the globe. The hottest debate to surface as a result of the hacking involves the million dollar question whether Apple is safe or able to keep its user information safe from hackers and cyber thieves.
The leaked photos were posted on an online platform 4Chan; the early leaks involved pictures of super model Kate Upton and one of the most famous actresses of today, Jennifer Lawrence. The hacker also said that the audiences should expect many more pictures to be published soon.
When Apple Inc. was asked to comment on the issue the company did not offer much information; however an Apple spokesperson did say that the company is making investigations into the issue. It has also been reported that Apple upgraded its security protocol on Monday to prevent further attacks from happening.
Update: Apple Denies iCould was Source
We wanted to provide an update to our investigation into the theft of photos of certain celebrities. When we learned of the theft, we were outraged and immediately mobilized Apple’s engineers to discover the source. Our customers’ privacy and security are of utmost importance to us. After more than 40 hours of investigation, we have discovered that certain celebrity accounts were compromised by a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the Internet. None of the cases we have investigated has resulted from any breach in any of Apple’s systems including iCloud® or Find my iPhone. We are continuing to work with law enforcement to help identify the criminals involved.
It is believed that the attack occurred through Apple’s service of Find my iPhone, which is a service that allows the users to find their lost phones using iCloud. According to a few tech experts Apple was unable to provide Find my iPhone company’s usual security that prevents hacking through random password guessing.
It would be too early to speculate whether Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iCloud itself was hacked by these cyber thieves; so far it is being assumed that this theft is only restricted to user accounts on iCloud, which could mean that the hackers are no more than “regular guessers” who are apt at hacking passwords. No solid evidence regarding how the actual hacking occurred has surfaced yet. Tech experts and users are speculating over possible theories and explanations.
