Latest Photo Leak leaves Celebs Red-Faced

iCloud Hack Thought To Be Behind A Mass Humiliation. But Is It Really That Surprising?

Another day in Celebland, another naked photo or sex tape leakage thanks to techy hacks (or warped stalkers prehaps?) and yet everyone is still so shocked and surprised?? A celebrity getting hacked?! Say it ain't so!

When are people (plebs and celebs alike- yes this is one of the very few equal grounds we share) going to realise that anything online or connected to an online database is no longer private?

Hundreds of celebs have been effected by this mass hacking including Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence and singer Rihanna.

Since the news broke, many have leapt on the 'lets defend the poor celebs' bandwagon; playing the 'feminism' card and the 'right to privacy' card too- and to a degree they deserve some empathy. But hang on...there has still been a no show on the common sense card. Let's give it an airing here shall we?

Now it is completely understandable for all those 'victims' to be annoyed; someone stole their 'private' photo's and any way you look at it, stealing is wrong so they should be held to account for that. However for being able to find them in the first place? I'm still not convinced the hackers are completely in the wrong here.

For what seems like years now, experts have warned about the dangers and the pitfalls of internet security with a world that is ever more increasingly willing to share their every waking moment, and mobile security also with the emergence and boom in smartphone popularity. Think of it this way: if someone screams out that a lion is running after you and you don't move and get eaten alive, is it the fault of the person who warned you? Or the lion's fault? No. Excuse the blown up metaphor but it's true, if you ignore the warnings then don't be surprised when the consequences come to bite you on the bottom!

Yes, there is the argument that pictures that are taken on phone's are private and to a certain extent they are (or were) but as soon as you start introducing storage software that memorises and stores every nook and cranny of your mobile data on the web, things start to become...less private. What the victims of this hacking seem to have missed is the fact that they can actually turn The Cloud software off. It's common sense, and for most, common place now to kick in some common sense and keep your private life on lock down. 

The case is now even being investigated by the FBI who have been quoted saying they are "addressing the matter" into just how 'hackers' obtained this sheer amount of data from celebs accounts. The affected celeb's agents were of course quick to stand up and defend their clients with Jennifer Lawrence's spokeswoman saying that the leaked pictures (that were posted across the web on 4Chan and then subsequently Reddit) were a "flagrant violation of privacy."

Again, while the privacy law still stands, surely a big lesson needs to be learnt here that celebs especially, as well as the general public, need to start wising up to potential hacking embarrassments and start to keep their private photo's private and miles away from anything web related.

Security Analyst from Tripwire echoes this saying "it is important for celebrities and the general public to remember that images and data no longer just reside on the device that captured it."- come on, we should know this already right? With the potential pitfalls of the webosphere and social media. Photo's of any kind can catch on like wildfire and can trend worldwide before the day's out.

So while some may lay on the sympathy nice and thick for these celebs, there is also a valid argument for the fact that these big names need to wake up and realise their role is a very public one, like it or not, and in turn their content is potentially up for public scrutiny too...if they don't keep their beady eyes on it.

Julie Bundy

Hi my name is Julie! Fresh out of university studying journalism, I love to have a good laugh and I believe in always keeping an open mind. In my spare time, if you don't catch me between two pages of a book, you'll most likely find me in front of the computer or the TV! I also like to make cakes if I have the time (and the ingredients!)... or as my friends like to call them, Bundy Buns. Make sure you follow me @JulieAtSMF.

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