Victoria's Secret model Gigi Hadid's iCloud allegedly hacked
Attack is similar to the controversial leak of hundreds of celebrity nudes last year
Apple’s iCloud security may be in hot water yet again, as Victoria’s Secret model Gigi Hadid allegedly had her personal cloud storage account hacked.
Celebrity gossip site TMZ reported that the model, who is one of the lingerie company’s famous Angels, is being blackmailed by hackers.
The attackers claim to have access to private photos and videos from her iCloud account, which they have threatened to sell to the media unless a ransom is paid.
According to TMZ, Hadid has no intention of paying the extortionists and has turned to both the police and private security contractors in order to hunt them down.
To see a full list of celebs allegedly affected by the scandal, click here.
At the time, Apple denied that its systems were breached, claiming instead that the leaks were the result of “a very targeted attack” against the affected users.
It’s still unknown whether or not the hackers are bluffing, or whether they really do have access to Hadid’s pictures.
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If the model’s iCloud account has been breached, however, it appears unlikely to be because of a flaw in Apple’s security. Such vulnerabilities typically lead to mass-scale leaking of images and data, rather than individual blackmail cases.
Regardless of the legitimacy or extent of the breach, these incidents always act as a wake-up call for iCloud users with regards to the security of their data.
If you want to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen to you, make sure you take steps to protect yourself with our top 5 iCloud security tips.
Adam Shepherd has been a technology journalist since 2015, covering everything from cloud storage and security, to smartphones and servers. Over the course of his career, he’s seen the spread of 5G, the growing ubiquity of wireless devices, and the start of the connected revolution. He’s also been to more trade shows and technology conferences than he cares to count.
Adam is an avid follower of the latest hardware innovations, and he is never happier than when tinkering with complex network configurations, or exploring a new Linux distro. He was also previously a co-host on the ITPro Podcast, where he was often found ranting about his love of strange gadgets, his disdain for Windows Mobile, and everything in between.
You can find Adam tweeting about enterprise technology (or more often bad jokes) @AdamShepherUK.
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