Apple Restores Customer Confidence: No Security Was Breached In Celebrity Photo Scandal
3 September 2014, 09:00
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Today Apple shares jumped up by nearly one per cent to a new record, after the company assured there was no security system
breach when celebrities had intimate photos stolen from their iCloud
accounts.
The statement affirmed that the thefts happened after the
perpetrators deduced their login credentials as part of a “very targeted
attack on user names”.
"When we learned of the theft, we were outraged and immediately
mobilised Apple’s engineers to discover the source," the company commented.
"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."
Apple shares tied a record high of $103.74 following the announcement.
Private photographs of around 20 celebrities, including Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunsts, Kate Upton and a number of others were published by an anonymous user on the
picture-sharing website 4chan. There was an assumption that a flaw in
Apple's software enabled users to locate missing iPhones, because it had
allowed hackers to try logging in with an unlimited number of
passwords.
Apple Inc. and FBI have started investigating the matter.
