Celebrity nude-pic hackers try to get Bitcoins for leaking photos

While numerous A-List celebrities struggle to deal with hundreds of their most intimate photos being shared online in what has been dubbed #CelebGate, 4chan users are treating the news of the hack in a very different way: An opportunity to make a quick and dirty profit.

When the initial photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Krysten Ritter and dozens more first surfaced on the notorious imageboard 4chan on Sunday, leakers called for Bitcoin donations in return for more intimate images. The anonymous leaker allegedly claimed to be in possession of further photos and videos, and would release them to the general public if he received sufficient amounts of the cryptocurrency.

However, 4chan’s image board system is fast-paced and transient, with posts appearing and vanishing within a matter of minutes, and notable content is reposted by other—almost always anonymous—users. In this environment, the initial post rapidly disappeared, and in its place sprung up a multitude of pretenders.

Dozens of anonymous users on 4chan and beyond saw this opportunity, and immediately began impersonating the original leaker, attempting solicit Bitcoin donations of their own. Rumors abound—totally unsubstantiated—that the original leaker managed to make as much as $45,000 in Bitcoin donations, further fuelling the greed of opportunistic 4channers. The Daily Dot traced the quoted $45,000 figure back to a transaction of just over 100 Bitcoin, made on Aug. 31, that has no known link to the unidentified original leaker.

http://www.dailydot.com/crime/celebgate-jennifer-lawrence-nude-leakers-bitcoin/

#CelebGate is not the more common name for what has happened, by the way ...

All I can Say is it the the Celeb's Fault...
Don't stand in front of cameras naked if you don't want nude photos.

the notion that any digital media is secure is Stupid. People of this profile should know better than to allow the photos to be taken in the first place put then to upload them (back up in cloud.. that is what it means) what the hell do they expect...

The Cloud is still the internet all you're doing is accessing a Hard drive (being physically managed by someone else) over the internet.. even if it doesn't get 'hacked' you are still putting 1000% faith in the person managing the cloud hard drive... which seems like an unnecessary risk when a couple of USB drives will serve your back up requirements just as well.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/ricky-gervais-slammed-over-joke-about-nude-photo-hacking-scandal/story-fn907478-1227044608869

"Ricky Gervais slammed over joke about nude photo hacking scandal "

Should read

"Ricky Gervais slammed over Very accurate observation about nude photo hacking scandal "

Anyone that does not understand technology STOP USING IT
Don't say it is hacking when it is USER STUPIDITY, it is not hacking this is what they had their camera/phone SET TO DO... the celebs in question are just to silly to know what they asked their phone to do!!!!!

This Amazing god like tech is NOT a right!!!! Educate your self or face the consequence of the mistakes YOU make using a tool more powerful than anything available before in history.

I haven't yet but I plan to look at the pics because FUCK IDIOTS

http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2014/09/01/3477756/lena-dunham-hacked-photos-of-naked-celebrities-was-an-act-of-sexual-harassment/
Lena Dunham Is the perfect example of an Idiot ...
NO one is Forcing you to Use the Technology .... Since your too fucking stupid I recommend you stop...
And NO it is not like what you said it is like you taking a photo (an old fashioned one) and them and giving them to someone to and saying Please photocopy all of these so If I lose them you can give me another copy. Actually you are saying keep the original and Give me a 'copy' every time I request it.
If they weren't using Apple they could switch all those things Off.. but use Apple and you deserve what you get  And don't say we didn't tell you.. every one in Tech industry has been Screaming Steve Jobs is Satan since his 'Breakout' First Colour game (using cellophane in the machine over parts of the screen) scam back in the 80's

Also OP is wrong
4Chan reposted pics and wanted money to keep reposting pics
the OP poster of pics turned down 6 figures from TMZ

the real issue seems to be some said
FUCK YOU media you cant buy me..

AND anyone making excuse for the Celebs NO NO NO it is not sexual assault the celeb WILLING took the photo... it is the Celeb NOT taking reasonable care of the photo that is the problem.... IF you take nude Photos put them in an envelope and leave them on the train, You Should have the Exact same exceptions as someone putting them online.. And YES snapchat.. iCloud..etc is ONLINE... and there is no such thing as privacy online. what is DOUBLE stupid is that in real life Google has taken away our right to expect privacy, they have forced the laws to be interpreted as if you can see it from the street (or space) well then it is not private and google can take a photo and show it to everyone....
So If YOU are required to secure anything you don't want made a public photo and make it so hidden it cannot be seen by Spy Satellites, why would electronic be any different...
IF this person is a hacker and guilty of ANY crime Google is guilty of the EXACT same.

Further updates from the depths of this gross mess: an anonymous 4chan user has revealed that the leaks aren't the work of a single leaker, but a "celebrity nude trading ring" which has existed on the deep web for years. The only way to join the ring is by buying in with original photos, i.e. ones you've taken of celebrities yourself or taken from hacked accounts. There were some clues to this dropped earlier, with one of the leakers claiming that they weren't going to drop all the photos at once for free and was hoping to earn money in the form of bitcoin, because he'd spent a lot trading within the ring to get them all. Allegedly that original leaker spurred the other leaks by blowing the lid on their operation.
Take this all with a grain of salt, given that it was volunteered by an anonymous user. It could just be the fiction of an overactive imagination, but it does explain a few things. 4chan itself has been divided in the fallout; while some anons are calling for empathy, others are telling them to "fuck off, faggot" and posting photos of mutilated bodies to ward off people visiting the messageboard out of curiosity. So y'know, be wary.

So NOW it is Public..... but always was to anyone that knew how to look.

the LESSON
DON"T PUT NUDE PHOTOS ONLINE
OR JUST
DON'T TAKE NUDE PHOTOS OF YOURSELF

Good point -- I guess everyone just tends to think of hacking as something that won't happen to them, the same way we all think we're not going to be the person killed in a spree shooting, etc.

this is hacking like finding a open window is lock picking

This is Why a lot of Techies are like '"STFU don play the vicitm!!! we told you so and You said Shut up I'm too busy Facebooking on my Iphone to worry about taking basic responsibility for what I am doing online."

I agree that it's best not to stand in front of a camera naked if you don't want nude pics of yourself on the internet. Always keep your clothes on when outdoors too.

I thought that Kate Middleton was a bit stupid to stand on that balcony with her clothes off. Being dressed when outdoors isn't much of a sacrifice for all the privileges she now gets.

UPLOADING images to 'cloud' storage and online albums is an "opt in" situation as well ~ people would obviously be a lot smarter to only upload photo's they want the world to see ~ or don't care about the world potentially seeing them somewhere down the road...

AND with those photo's one wants to keep secure/'private' you stick to "old school" backup mediums ~ e.g. regularly backing up to CDs/DVDs, USB sticks, stand-alone HDs..

I HAVE the same attitudes towards anyone I hear of losing their "homework/PhD assignment/Project work/Family photo's/World's next Greatest novel !" because they didn't bother to back up their files, as veya demonstrates towards Cloud users and Apple owners. ::pntyswrd::

Lone Wolf wrote:
AND with those photo's one wants to keep secure/'private' you stick to "old school" backup mediums ~ e.g. regularly backing up to CDs/DVDs, USB sticks, stand-alone HDs..

I know, right?  Anyone who doesn't have a couple of thumb drives for really, really "personal" storage is asking for it.

The Internet is always public space. Live and learn, I guess.

veya_victaous wrote:this is hacking like finding a open window is lock picking

This is Why a lot of Techies are like '"STFU don play the vicitm!!! we told you so and You said Shut up I'm too busy Facebooking on my Iphone to worry about taking basic responsibility for what I am doing online."

Those techies are now making a mint fixing computers and ridding viruses.  They probably set them loose.  I can think of no other reason for writing a virus.

LIKE veya, I haven't yet seen any actual proof of genuine "hacking" and hackers yet in this case..

Yesterday, other members on that 4chan site apparently backtracked that idiot claiming to be "the hacker" in yesterday's news ~ and found some dick who was simply trying to cash in on the ruckus !

SO CALLED "Technology Expert" journalists, in reality more likely sounding like some young newspaper/TV/radio interns without a clue, are constantly misusing and abusing those terms like hacking, trolling, spamming and cyber-bullying ~ not helped in the least by attention-seeking amateurs such as schoolteachers, police and the "victims" lawyers each putting in their "two bobs worth.."

Lone Wolf wrote:

LIKE veya, I haven't yet seen any actual proof of genuine "hacking" and hackers yet in this case..

Yesterday, other members on that 4chan site apparently backtracked that idiot claiming to be "the hacker" in yesterday's news ~ and found some dick who was simply trying to cash in on the ruckus !

SO CALLED "Technology Expert" journalists, in reality more likely sounding like some young newspaper/TV/radio interns without a clue, are constantly misusing and abusing those terms like hacking, trolling, spamming and cyber-bullying ~ not helped in the least by attention-seeking amateurs such as schoolteachers, police and the "victims" lawyers each putting in their "two bobs worth.."

I thought you said "two boobs worth"

Original Quill wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:this is hacking like finding a open window is lock picking

This is Why a lot of Techies are like '"STFU don play the vicitm!!! we told you so and You said Shut up I'm too busy Facebooking on my Iphone to worry about taking basic responsibility for what I am doing online."

Those techies are now making a mint fixing computers and ridding viruses.  They probably set them loose.  I can think of no other reason for writing a virus.

Well that is different and honestly more than 70% of computer issues(close to 90% in some cases) are still 'ID ten T' issues or BCK (between Chair and keyboard)

Honestly for at least 5 years I think any virus is likely made by one of the anti-virus makers... even the most basic free software offers about 1000 times more protection for a home PC than NASA had on their systems in the 90's. the Idea of teens programming and WORKING virus let alone something major is really a thing of the Past.

the Exception being Malware it is not really a virus just a shitty application but they are the biggest killer/slower of normal users computers and the user downloaded and installed the malware, the most common of these are the 'free tool bars' every application tries to install 'for' you.

Original Quill wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:this is hacking like finding a open window is lock picking

This is Why a lot of Techies are like '"STFU don play the vicitm!!! we told you so and You said Shut up I'm too busy Facebooking on my Iphone to worry about taking basic responsibility for what I am doing online."

Those techies are now making a mint fixing computers and ridding viruses.  They probably set them loose.  I can think of no other reason for writing a virus.

Cyberterrorism Quill. Many of the viruses are written by terrorist networks and are designed to disrupt business and the every day working activities of our society.

They're disguised as something that appears harmless but they're seriously disruptive and a big threat and it's a constant battle to beat them down before they do really serious damage.

@Irn
Yep Cyber terrorism
Not the 100 of millions of dollars in licensing fees that Businesses alone pay to the AntiVirius companies to keep themselves 'protected'...
Call my Cynical

http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/icloud-nude-leak-is-very-much-apples-fault-opinion/story-fnjwnj25-1227046450123

iCloud nude leak is very much Apple’s fault: Opinion

One easy fix for all this should be two-step authentication. This is a process that involves verifying a login via a second method, usually a code in a text message.

Apple does have an option for this, but not only does it not encourage users to use it, it makes it stupidly difficult to activate. But two-step authentication isn’t even forced when logging into iCloud online. This renders it pointless for pretty much anything but purchases.

So as it stands, Apple holds your data in an unsecure way. And the tech giant doesn’t appear to be in a rush to fix this gaping security flaw to make us and our private information safer.

As I Was Saying... it is an Open Window, It is not Hacking Because Apple decided not to lock it

Apple confirmed that the leak was not the result of a direct hack attack of its iCloud system but rather as a result of exploiting weak passwords.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/cancer-charity-rejects-donations-by-reddit-users-who-viewed-nude-celebrity-photos/story-fnjwnj25-1227045939210

veya_victaous wrote:@Irn
Yep Cyber terrorism
Not the 100 of millions of dollars in licensing fees that Businesses alone pay to the AntiVirius companies to keep themselves 'protected'...
Call my Cynical          

Hiya Veya,

I don't doubt for a moment that there is a lot of murky goings on in the wonderful world of anti-virus creators but the fact remains that there are terrorists who attack computer systems with the intent of causing as much maximum disruption as they can.

Countries like the USA have contingency plans to counter a knockout blow on a vital installations and networks and they'd be foolish not to.

From just last year...

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/04/12/us-intelligence-chief-cyberterror-leading-threat.html

veya_victaous wrote:http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/icloud-nude-leak-is-very-much-apples-fault-opinion/story-fnjwnj25-1227046450123

iCloud nude leak is very much Apple’s fault: Opinion

One easy fix for all this should be two-step authentication. This is a process that involves verifying a login via a second method, usually a code in a text message.

Apple does have an option for this, but not only does it not encourage users to use it, it makes it stupidly difficult to activate. But two-step authentication isn’t even forced when logging into iCloud online. This renders it pointless for pretty much anything but purchases.

So as it stands, Apple holds your data in an unsecure way. And the tech giant doesn’t appear to be in a rush to fix this gaping security flaw to make us and our private information safer.

As I Was Saying...  it is an Open Window, It is not Hacking Because Apple decided not to lock it

ALL it should take to "opt out" of auto-upload of photo's to "the Cloud" is ticking one box in the set-up...

JUST goes to show how many people are using their "smart" phones in the original default modes ~ rather than customising the Settings to suit their own requirements..

With those clueless celebrities named so far, I wonder how many of them simply left the phone setup to either their personal assistants, or even simply accepted it as it came to them

Irn Bru wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:@Irn
Yep Cyber terrorism
Not the 100 of millions of dollars in licensing fees that Businesses alone pay to the AntiVirius companies to keep themselves 'protected'...
Call my Cynical          

Hiya Veya,

I don't doubt for a moment that there is a lot of murky goings on in the wonderful world of anti-virus creators but the fact remains that there are terrorists who attack computer systems with the intent of causing as much maximum disruption as they can.

Countries like the USA have contingency plans to counter a knockout blow on a vital installations and networks and they'd be foolish not to.

From just last year...

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/04/12/us-intelligence-chief-cyberterror-leading-threat.html

But even that Article Admits that only really Russian and Chinese Cyber-soldiers could Pull it off.... it reports terrorist groups are believed to be trying which they might be BUT them actually being able to pull it off is a completely different story. The Advancement in Internet Security has been massive and there are almost no working viruses that do not rely on social engineering they are not technical feats they are Tricking someone to willingly install. (one of the few exceptions is STUXNET which attacked the Iranian Power plants and was probably made by the USA and/or Israel.)


@LW
that is correct ::D:: If you want to use Apple (for some reason ) Fine BUT regardless of what device, you should be going through it to understand what you are agreeing too and doing when you press the buttons. I think the Fact they Are celebrities(who are familiar with 'media') and the Fact the stood in front of a camera naked for non-artistic/professional purposes is Proof of their Stupidity.