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2014 celebrity nude photo leak

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On August 31, 2014, a collection of almost 200 private pictures of various celebrities—mostly consisting of women, and with many containing nudity, were posted on the imageboard 4chan, and later disseminated by other users on websites and social networks such as Imgur, Reddit and Tumblr. The images were believed to have been obtained via a breach of Apple's cloud services suite iCloud.[1][2][3] Apple later confirmed that the hackers responsible for the leak had obtained the images using a "very targeted attack" on account information, such as passwords, rather than any security vulnerability in the iCloud service itself.[4][5][6]

The event, which media outlets and Internet users referred to under names such as "Celebgate" and "The Fappening", was met with a varied reaction from the media and fellow celebrities. Critics felt that the distribution of the images was a major invasion of privacy for their subjects, while some of the allegedly depicted subjects questioned their authenticity. The leak also prompted increased concern from analysts surrounding the privacy and security of cloud computing services such as iCloud—with a particular emphasis on their use to store sensitive, private information.

Content and victims

The original release contained photos and videos of more than 100 individuals that were allegedly obtained from file storage on hacked iCloud accounts,[7] including some the leakers claimed were A-list celebrities.[8][9] Shortly after the photos were leaked, several affected celebrities issued statements to either confirm or deny the photos' authenticity.[10][11] Celebrities that have confirmed the photos' authenticity include Jennifer Lawrence (confirmed by her publicist),[12] Kate Upton and her boyfriend Justin Verlander (confirmed by Upton's lawyer),[13][14][15] Mary Elizabeth Winstead (confirmed on Twitter),[16][17] Jessica Brown Findlay (confirmed by spokesman),[18] Kaley Cuoco (confirmed via Instagram),[19][20] and Kirsten Dunst,[21] who also criticized the iCloud service.[22] Jill Scott confirmed on Twitter that one of the leaked photos was of her while stating that another was fake.[23]

Celebrities who have denied the photos' authenticity include Ariana Grande[24][25] and Yvonne Strahovski.[26] Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney initially denied the images' authenticity on Twitter,[27][28] then later confirmed that the photos were legitimate while also stating she was underage at the time they were taken.[29] Victoria Justice denied that the photos were authentic but later stated on Twitter that she was pursuing legal actions and found the leak to be a massive invasion of not just her privacy, but of the privacy of all the celebrities affected by the leak.[24][30]

According to security expert Nik Cubrilovic, in addition to the photographs, other personal information such as text messages, calendars, address books, phone call logs and any other data stored on their phones and backed up to the service were also likely stolen.[31][32]

Distribution

The photos were being passed around privately for at least a couple weeks before their public release on August 31, although the details are unclear. There are claims that many more unreleased photos and videos exist.[33] The Daily Mail cited anonymous posters from 4chan and Deadspin who stated that a ring of hackers, traders, and sellers had been operating for months leading up to the mass release.[3] The images were allegedly obtained via the online storage offered by Apple's iCloud platform for automatically backing up photos from iOS devices, such as iPhone smartphones. In August 2014, it was publicized that hackers had discovered an exploit involving the Find My iPhone service, which allowed them to brute-force a user's Apple ID and access their iCloud data. It was initially believed that the images had been obtained using this flaw.[34]

The hacker responsible for the leak, who described themselves as being a "collector", distributed the leaked images on the image boards 4chan and Anon-IB in exchange for Bitcoin.[35][36] Ultimately, the images were widely circulated online via other channels, including Imgur and Tumblr. Celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton also re-posted some of the photos on his blog, but soon took them down and issued an apology, saying "he had acted in bad taste".[37][38]

A major center of activity was the link-sharing website Reddit,[39] where a subreddit was created for sharing the photos;[40] in a single day, it amassed over 100,000 followers. Reddit administrators were criticized for allowing this to take place in an alleged violation of their anti-doxing rules.[41][42] As Maroney was under 18 at the time the photos of her were taken, Reddit staff took photos of her down and warned that anyone re-posting them, or underage photos of Liz Lee which had been circulating prior to this incident, would be permanently banned from the site and could be prosecuted for distributing child pornography.[29] On September 7, citing copyright issues, Reddit banned its "TheFappening" subreddit,[40][43] also saying the workload of dealing with them had become too much.[44] Reddit banned another subreddit named "Fappening" on the same day.[43]

Reaction

Writer Van Badham condemned the photo leak and the people who shared the photos.[45] Actress Lena Dunham pleaded on Twitter for people not to view the pictures, saying doing so "violat[es] these women over and over again. It's not okay."[46] Actress Emma Watson condemned not only the release of the photos, but also "the accompanying comments [on social media] that show such a lack of empathy."[47] Actors Seth Rogen and Lucas Neff also spoke out against the hackers and people who posted the pictures.[48] Verlander, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, told the media prior to a game against the Cleveland Indians that he keeps his private life private and would rather focus on the Tigers' race with the Kansas City Royals for the AL Central title than be a distraction to his teammates.[49] Security analysts have stated that the breach could have been prevented through the use of two-factor authentication,[50] while a Forbes writer recommended turning off the iCloud "Photo Stream" feature (which uploads photos taken with an iOS device to iCloud servers automatically) entirely.[51]

The incident has been given many names, including "The Fappening" (a portmanteau of "The Happening" and "fap", Internet slang for "masturbate");[52] and "Celebgate" (a reference to the Watergate scandal).[53] The term "The Fappening" has received criticism from journalists like Radhika Sanghani of The Daily Telegraph and Toyin Owoseje of The International Business Times,[54] who said that the term not only trivialized the leak, but also, according to Sanghani, "[made] light of a very severe situation"; both articles used the term extensively to describe the event, including in the headlines.[5]

The FBI said that it was "aware of the allegations concerning computer intrusions and the unlawful release of material involving high profile individuals, and is addressing the matter."[55] Jennifer Lawrence contacted authorities and her publicist has stated that the authorities will prosecute anyone who posts leaked images of her.[56] Forbes columnist Joseph Steinberg questioned whether the reactions by law enforcement and technology providers indicated that celebrities were being treated different from ordinary Americans, which, in the case of law enforcement, may be illegal.[57] Similarly, Apple stated that it had been investigating whether a security breach of the iCloud service was responsible for the leaked photographs, as per the company's commitment to user privacy.[50][58] On September 2, 2014, Apple reported that the leaked images were the result of compromised accounts, using "a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the Internet."[59][60]

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that in response to the leaks, the company planned to take additional steps to protect the privacy and security of iCloud users in the future. Notifications will be provided whenever data is restored to a device via iCloud and after logging into iCloud via a web browser[61] in addition to existing notifications when a user's iCloud password is changed. Additionally, Apple will broaden and encourage the use of two-factor authentication in future versions of its software and operating systems, such as the then-upcoming iOS 8. Cook denied that any particular security vulnerability in the iCloud platform itself was used as part of the leaks, believing that the user information was obtained through either brute-force guessing, or phishing. In conclusion, he emphasized that "we want to do everything we can do to protect our customers, because we are as outraged if not more so than they are."[62]

See also

References

  1. ^ Arthur, Charles (September 1, 2014). "Naked celebrity hack: security experts focus on iCloud backup theory". The Guardian. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  2. ^ Terrence McCoy (September 2, 2014). "4chan: The 'shock post' site that hosted the private Jennifer Lawrence photos". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 2, 2014. They quickly spilled to Reddit, where thousands purveyed it under the handle of "the Fappening" — "fap" means to masturbate — before the news reached Buzzfeed and the rest of the viral media gang. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ a b David McCormack; Paul Chavez; Zoe Szathmary; Sophie Jane Evans (September 2, 2014). "New wave of leaks target more celebrities as authorities prove unable to stop spread as it emerges naked photos may have been passed around online club for MONTHS". The Daily Mail. Retrieved September 2, 2014. Last night, Reddit users took to a special subsection of the social networking site devoted to the leaks, called Fappening, to discuss the supposed release of a new wave of naked images. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Mitchell Sunderland; Mike Pearl (September 2, 2014). "THIS PORN SITE OPERATOR ISSUED A BOUNTY FOR HELPING CATCH THE 'FAPPENING' LEAKER". Vice. Retrieved September 2, 2014. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ a b Radhika Sanghani (September 2, 2014). "Jennifer Lawrence photo leak: Let's stop calling this hacking 'The Fappening'". The Telegraph. Retrieved September 2, 2014. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Landi, Martin (September 2, 2014). "Stars' nude photo attack may have been down to password codes". Irish Independent. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  7. ^ Alexander, Ella. "Jessica Brown Findlay: Downton Abbey star is linked to list of celebrities targeted by hackers". Independent. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  8. ^ Kedmey, Dan. "Hackers Leak Explicit Photos of More Than 100 Celebrities". TIME. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  9. ^ Shrivastava, Anshu (September 1, 2014). "Celebrities' Leaked Nude Photos: Master-List Printed, Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian, Kate Upton, Jennifer Lawrence, Kaley Cuoco, Rihanna, More Names On It". International Business Times. Cite error: The named reference "ibtimes" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  10. ^ O'Neill, Kara. "Celebrity victims of the nude photos hack: A who's who of the ones you might not have heard of". Mirror.
  11. ^ l, Hollywood Life Staff. "Tenna Torres: 'American Idol' Semi-Finalist Latest Victim Of Nude Leak". Hollywood Life.
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  19. ^ Bryan Durnham (September 2, 2014). "Hacked and leaked: Nude Hollywood". DNA India. Retrieved September 2, 2014. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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  24. ^ a b "Ariana Grande Denies Authenticity of Alleged Leaked Nude Photos". Billboard. August 31, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2014. {{cite news}}: line feed character in |work= at position 23 (help)
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  26. ^ Schlossberg, Mallory. "YVONNE STRAHOVSKI'S RESPONSE TO LEAKED NUDES IS POWERFUL — PHOTO". Bustle.
  27. ^ Boren, Cindy (September 1, 2014). "Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney says leaked racy photos are fake, fends off Twitter backlash". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  28. ^ Template:Twitter status
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  32. ^ Notes on the Celebrity Data Theft
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  44. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/2fpdax/time_to_talk/
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  49. ^ Justin Verlander addresses scandal ESPN.com (09/02/2014)
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External links

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