So how did Hackers get pictures from 101 Celebs?

[Savannahmann]

Every time there is a hacking story, there are a flood of news stories about how to choose a secure password. These stories give the impression that the people who were hacked were partially to blame by choosing a simple or common password. But that impression is both erroneous, and stupid. Nearly every site gives you a handful of chances to enter your password before it starts sending out alerts. The Systems Operators would be notified if someone had their computer sending in hundreds or thousands of passwords randomly to try and gain access to dozens or hundreds of accounts.

Besides, that wouldn't explain the recent Russian hack in which billions of user-names and passwords were hacked.

So what do I think happened? I think someone hacked the "god" or master access password. Either the company master password, or one of the various back-door access routes put in place for the NSA/GCHQ/FBI/DHS to keep an eye on things. We already know how stupid the security professionals are at the NSA. And we know that one of the causes leading to the BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was that the inspectors spent their time watching porn on the internet at work. We also know that the FBI can access webcams secretly.

So I honestly believe that one of the hackers learned of the master access from either Apple, or one of the lack of intelligence agencies that have master access in the name of national security. Because when you put in a back door, you bypass all the other security. The system doesn't go hey, this computer is new, lets ask the user some questions to see if they are why they claim to be. It doesn't ask you to confirm a credit card number, or one of your security questions. The god of the system is in there, and the security protocols can't apply to god.

Or it could be that one of the hackers involved, actually works for one of the security agencies. You can't rule that out under the pretense that the people working for those agencies are all awesomely moral and dedicated individuals. Remember the cops in California who were running women on dating sites through the NCIC. They were quite open about, and until one person spoke up, nobody thought anything of it.

Besides, the Feds love to hire hackers, and there is a certain amount of logic to it. I mean, you send a con man to find a con man. A liar will always spot another liar. So the idea of using a hacker, to find other hackers, makes a certain amount of sense. However, what must be remembered is that these former criminals require a great deal of scrutiny and supervision to insure that they are not returning to their old ways.

I honestly believe that the hacking attacks we are hearing about are because of these back door access abilities. The company has them so they can get in to see if there is kiddie porn or other requirements that the Government put upon them. The Government agencies have the access to find terrorists and other criminals. The more agencies that get involved trying to find one small subset of criminal, the more back doors there are, with limited or non-existent security. While you may have one password to your iCloud account, there are probably a dozen or more passwords that will get someone else access.

Yes, the hackers are criminals for stealing the pictures. But I wonder if we'll ever find out how many people viewed those pictures who got a Government Paycheck before this story broke?

[conservaphobe]

1. Apple fucked up.

Apple appears to have fixed a bug that some have speculated could be the possible source of this weekend's massive online leak of celebrity nude photos.

The bug, known as "ibrute," appears to have been first noted on the social coding site Github. It allowed hackers to access an individual's iCloud data by exploiting a weakness in Apple's "Find My iPhone" service, according to Engadget.

The problem was that Apple's service didn't employ so-called "brute force protection," which meant that anyone who wanted to break into a person's iCloud could repeatedly enter a large number of passwords without fear of being locked out, according to The Next Web.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/01/icloud-bug-fixed_n_5748642.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

[tridim]

3. Impossible, Apple products are perfect. nt

[Fawke Em]

6. LOL!

[conservaphobe]

7. Any device connected to a network is automatically imperfect.

[randome]

2. You 'honestly believe' without a shred of evidence.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[MineralMan]

4. Speculation and Government Agency Blaming

is common on DU and unwarranted, I think. There have been several people who are trying to blame the NSA for these leaks of private photos, but I'm not seeing the logical process used to think that.

Since Apple just fixed an issue that would have enabled hackers to access iPhone data stored in the cloud, it seems pretty clear that someone exploited that flaw in this case.

What drives hackers to attempt to access celebrity photos like these? Money. Naked photos of celebrities who are not known for appearing nude have monetary value. Another motive is perverse curiosity. All anyone has to do is to go to 4Chan to see the group of weird adolescent or just weird people who do this stuff as recreation.

Occam's Razor applies. The simplest explanation is that some people want to see women who are celebrities naked. Some people will pay for that, so others will work to provide such images for money. If they can't find the actual images, they'll fake them. There are tons of fake images of celebrities in the nude or engaged in sexual acts that are nothing more than Photoshop work.

Don't like the NSA? That's understandable, but it's doubtful that anyone there is responsible for the current brouhaha. There are much simpler explanations.

[djean111]

5. Not that it negates or diminishes your point in any way, but I thought the Russian hacker thing

was a fictitious news story.

[FSogol]

9. It is, but everyone treats it as truth.

[IDemo]

8. Apple appears to have found and fixed the bug in this case, but..

The media, including the tech media, have been remarkably quiet about a possibly much greater vulnerability revealed in iDevices recently:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/21/ios_firmware_contains_packet_sniffer_and_host_of_secret_spying_tools/