The Celebrity iCloud Hacking Scandal

 

 

In the age of the internet, privacy is everything. A high profile person must be cautious to what they upload to the cloud and what security procedures they are under taking, to avoid their personal information being leaked.  In 2014 iCloud hacking’s were brought to everyone’s attention as hundreds of celebrities had there privacy invaded. The images that caused the most stir contain nudity. One of the biggest names to be leaked was actress Jennifer Lawrence.

Many of the photos were first posted on 4Chan which then made there way to Reddit, Imgur and other social media sites. In an interview for Vanity Fair Jennifer Lawrence spoke out about how she felt about the events:

“It just makes me feel like a piece of meat that’s being passed around for profit”

She then went on to say:

“People forget that we’re human”

Other celebrities that were also affected by the hacking scandal spoke out on social media sites like Twitter, for example Mary E Winstead posted:

To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves.

— Mary E. Winstead (@M_E_Winstead) August 31, 2014

Knowing those photos were deleted long ago, I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this. Feeling for everyone who got hacked.

— Mary E. Winstead (@M_E_Winstead) August 31, 2014

The first hacker to be identified was Ryan Collins, a 36 year old married man with two kids, from Pennsylvania. He was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. He was found out to be tricking celebrities by appearing as Apple and Google in his emails to make the celebrities send him their personal information. He then gained access to at least 50 Apple iCloud accounts and 72 Gmail accounts. Another man who was revealed to be using the same hacking technique was 29 year old, Edward Majerczyk. It has been said that Majerczyk was using the images for his own satisfaction and had no intentions of selling them, he was sentenced to nine months in prison.

The surprising fact about the scandal was that both men used phishing tactics which needs no technical ability and no hacking skills. The men were able to create fake email accounts that appeared to have come from Apple and Google sources. Therefore, essentially anyone who has access to a computer can use hacking tricks to invade other people’s privacy. Especially as there are still YouTube videos that give just over 15 minute tutorials on how to create fake emails and use a phishing method. The video has been very popular with over 36,000 views.

Ryan Collins used a software that could download the entire contents of the victims ‘iCloud backup’, which meant that he could then search through all of their data to find sensitive images that he wanted. One of the programs he may of used is Elcomsoft by a Russian provider that has the ability to crack iCloud accounts. Even though they can do this, they are not illegal.

Overall, the celebrity hacking’s have brought to light how easy it is to trick someone into downloading all of their cloud data. Some may say that it is the celebrities faults for saving the photos to the cloud or for not keeping their password more secure. Morally, nobody has the right to invade another person’s privacy. The hacking’s were a total invasion of privacy and devastating to it’s victims. To keep yourself safe from hackers, remember that companies will rarely ask for your password. Therefore, if you are ever emailed by such companies like Apple and Google, do not forget how you don’t need to be a “computer nerd” to create a fake email account.

Stay safe in the cloud.