WASHINGTON // The FBI and Apple are urgently investigating an apparent massive hack of a cloud data service after intimate pictures of dozens of celebrities were circulated on the internet.
Anonymous posters to online message boards boasted of having nude images of scores of female stars including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence and top model Kate Upton.
Reports suggested hackers had “ripped” private images from Apple’s iCloud online data storage, a potentially embarrassing – and damaging – breach for the California tech giant.
“We take user privacy very seriously and are actively investigating this report,” said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris.
The FBI has also joined the hunt.
“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,” said Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles.
Online pictures of Lawrence, 24, who won an Academy Award for Silver Linings Playbook and stars in The Hunger Games movie franchise, began appearing on Sunday. The source of the hack was unclear.
Images purporting to be of dozens of other female actresses, models and athletes were also posted. The authenticity of many could not be confirmed.
“This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence,” spokeswoman Liz Mahoney said.
A lawyer for Upton called the posting of her photos “an outrageous violation” of her privacy.
The photos were posted on the image-sharing forum 4chan. Britain’s Mirror website quoted the anonymous uploader as saying on the site he or she was a collector, not the hacker.
The uploader said the photos had generated $120 in bitcoin, a digital currency, but added: “I really didn’t get close to what I was hoping.”
The actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead said on Twitter that nude photos of her were also posted online. She said the photos had long been deleted.
"I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this. Feeling for everyone who got hacked," said Ms Winstead, who starred in Smashed and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
* Agence France-Presse and Reuters
