Celebgate: Nude Celebrity Photos Being Investigated by FBI and Apple

The “Celebgate” incident where nude celebrity photos were leaked on Sunday evening and Monday morning is now being investigated by the FBI (CBS ) and Apple (The Verge ). The nude celebrity photos that were leaked in the Celebgate included among others Kirsten Dunst, Scarlet Johansson, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lawrence, and Kate Upton.

There are many rumors of who originally leaked the nude photos. It was first reported that an unidentified hacker used a vulnerability in Apple’s iCloud to gain access to the photos. The hacker then supposedly posted the photos on 4chan, an image-based bulletin board, for Bitcoin donations.

FBI is Looking Into Celebgate

In a statement  by FBI they said:

The FBI is aware of the allegations concerning computer intrusions and the unlawful release of material involving high profile individuals, and is addressing the matter. … Any further comment would be inappropriate at this time.

This statement could have been the result of both public and private attention. As Jennifer Lawrence’s spokesperson told HuffPost yesterday :

This is a flagrant violation of privacy. … The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence.

Whether or not the FBI will find out who initially hacked the celebrities’ accounts is unsure. The FBI has investigated a similar hack before, also involving Scarlet Johansson, where Christopher Chaney was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison .

Kirsten Dunst Tweets

In the aftermath of the Celebgate, Kirsten Dunst made a tweet thanking iCloud for the leakage of her nude photos:

It has not yet been comfirmed if the photos came from iCloud, but reports have discussed  that hackers may have used a brute force program which can spam the “Find my iPhone” service with different passwords until one of them works. Apple has said  they are “Actively Investigating” Celebgate.

Kate Upton Representatives Confirm

The Sports Illustrated Model Kate Upton’s representatives have confirmed that the photos of Kate Upton are real (ET ):

This is obviously an outrageous violation of our client Kate Upton’s privacy. We intend to pursue anyone disseminating or duplicating these illegally obtained images to the fullest extent possible.

However, spokespersons of Ariana Grande claims that the photos of her are fake.

Images from Shutterstock.