Lawrence's representative described the release of the photos as a 'flagrant violation of privacy' and said the authorities had been contacted. The Apple statement suggested the celebrities had their accounts hacked by using easy-to-guess passwords or by giving up their personal data to cybercriminals posing as Apple, a technique known as phishing. The breach comes as Apple prepares to launch a new iPhone next week and, more importantly, as smartphones increasingly become the repository for far more sensitive healthcare, banking and other personal data. The FBI confirmed it was investigating the hacks. 'We are continuing to work with law enforcement to help identify the criminals involved.' '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 have discovered that certain celebrity accounts were compromised by a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions,' it said. The images were posted on image-sharing forum 4chan, although the authenticity of many could not be confirmed.Īpple said when it learned of the theft, 'we were outraged and immediately mobilised Apple's engineers to discover the source'. Private, nude pictures of dozens of female celebrities, including Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence and top model Kate Upton, were posted on the internet after online storage accounts were hacked. Apple says a 'targeted attack' on some user accounts led to the release of nude celebrity photos, but it has found no breach of its cloud storage system.

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