Celeb Hack: Is Apple Telling All It Knows?

Did Apple have a system-wide data breach? No. Was it complicit through an appalling security lapse by not defending against brute force attacks? You're darn tootin'!

Recently the entire social network world, the general print media, entertainment news TV, and, really, almost every outlet that feels it is in the news business has been awash in articles about the leak of nude and compromising photographs of a large group of celebrities. Besides lots of conversation about the propriety of a) taking nude pictures and b) storing nude pictures in the cloud, there’s been a good deal of idle speculation as to how the pictures became available.

Was there one hacker? Multiple hackers? Was phishing involved? Did an entire website get hijacked?

[Progressive Enters UBI Alliance with Zubie.]

Well, one thing we can rest assured of: It wasn’t Apple’s fault. And we know that because they told us so. According to the Apple statement, “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.” Well, that’s reassuring.

Wait, though: Weren’t the victims' accounts on Apple’s servers? So how did someone not authorized to use those accounts get access to them? Apple? Anything to add here? Apple? It gets really quiet at this point.

[Read the rest of this article on Dark Reading.]

Dave Kearns is a senior analyst for Kuppinger-Cole, Europe's leading analyst company for identity-focused information security and networking. His columns and books have provided a thorough grounding in the basic philosophies of directory technology, networking, and identity ... View Full Bio