29/09/2016: The High Court has banned the publivation of pictures stolen from Pippa Middleton's iCloud account, saying it will take civil court action against a "person or persons unknown" following the hack.
High Court justice Philippa Whipple also said Pippa's fiance would be protected against the publication of the 3,000 pictures offer for sale to I, which are said to include naked photos of James Matthews.
Pippa's barrister Adam Wolanski said there had been a genuine attack on the royal relation. He explained it had been a "flagrant" and "criminal" act, causing Middleton extreme upset.
Police are still investigating who may have broken into her account and for what reasons. Wolanski said the legal team has so far failed to identify any defendants responsible for the attack.
Meanwhile, the man arrested earlier this week was named as unemployed website designer Nathan Wyatt, although he has now been released on bail.
26/09/2016: A man has been arrested by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of hacking into Pippa Middleton's iCloud account and stealing photos from her iPhone, including some of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and her sister Kate.
It is alleged that the person responsible tried to sell the photos to The Sun newspaper via WhatsApp. The newspaper said 3,000 photographs were stolen and they were on sale for £50,000 if the paper could send the money over within 48 hours.
"This isnt (sic) an auction it will be a simple process of the highest bid," the seller allegedly said in the message to the newspaper.
The Sun claimed other photos were also available to buy, including naked pictures of Pippa's financier fiancé James Matthews and the party planner at a wedding dress fitting.
The man was arrested under the Computer Misuse Act in Northamptonshire and has been taken into custody at a police station in South London. Police said his WhatsApp name was Crafty Cockney.
The 35-year old man's identity hasn't been released and it's not known if he has any involvement with the Royal Family.
Kensington Palace hasn’t commented on the theft of the pictures, nor have Middleton's representatives.
02/08/2016: The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is reportedly investigating a hack of fashion designer Rachel Roy's iCloud and Gmail accounts.
Celebrity gossip site TMZ claims to have seen relevant official documents, Roy called the police back in April, claiming her accounts had been compromised.
The rumoured attack is said to have been part of a co-ordinated campaign by singer Beyoncé's most avid fans, the Beyhive, who openly targeted Roy on Twitter. The Beyoncé's followers became enraged at Roy after rumour spread that she was "Becky With the Good Hair", a woman referenced in her latest album, Lemonade, who listeners have interpreted as having had an affair with the singer's husband, Jay Z.
As for what happened in the alleged hack, while attackers can carry out highly intrusive and destructive acts, it seems that the extent of this particular incident is the phone number associated with Roy's accounts being changed without her permission.
TMZ said that, according to its sources within the police department, LAPD officers have been granted a warrant to investigate phone and email records of an unnamed party, adding: "Right now the working theory is the perp goes buzzzzzzz."
04/07/2016: iCloud celeb photo hack: Second man agrees to plead guilty to nude pictures hack
A man accused of hacking celebrities’ cloud storage accounts to steal nude pictures is set to plead guilty to a charge of computer hacking, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.
Edward Majerczyk, 28, of Chicago, Illinois, is charged with illegally accessing celebrities’ Gmail and iCloud accounts, including those of Jennifer Lawrence and Kirsten Dunst, and could be jailed for up to five years.
A plea agreement he signed says that he used a ‘phishing’ scam between November 2013 and August 2014 to access around 300 accounts, at least 30 of which belonged to celebrities, obtaining people’s usernames and passwords to get in.
Sending emails to his victims, he purported to be writing from their internet service providers' security accounts, directing them to a website into which they entered their login details, which he then used to get the pictures.
His plea comes less than two months after ‘Celebgate’ hacker Ryan Collins pleaded guilty to breaking into the email accounts of stars including both Lawrence and Dunst, though the two cases are not related.
Prosecutors have not tied Majerczyk to the leaking of the pictures online.
“Hacking of online accounts to steal personal information is not merely an intrusion of an individual’s privacy but is a serious violation of federal law,” said United States Attorney Eileen Decker.
Deirdre Fike, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, added: “This defendant not only hacked into e-mail accounts – he hacked into his victims’ private lives, causing embarrassment and lasting harm.
“As most of us use devices containing private information, cases like this remind us to protect our data. Members of society whose information is in demand can be even more vulnerable, and directly targeted.”
27/11/2015: iCloud celeb photo hack: full list of all the stars affected by 'the fappening'
It’s a story we’re seeing more and more frequently – nefarious hackers start snooping around in celebrities’ cloud storage accounts, and before long, their private and personal photos are splashed all over the internet.
The latest example is Victoria’s Secret model Gigi Hadid, with hackers threatening to release photos allegedly stolen from her iCloud account. It follows one of the biggest cases of last year, dubbed ‘the fappening’, which saw a deluge of celebrity nude shots posted to Reddit and 4Chan.
The snaps were distributed by an anonymous user calling themselves a “collector”, who offered additional material in exchange for Bitcoins. The pictures were reportedly in private circulation between a ring of online ‘nude-traders’ for months before their public release.
Many of the pictures were said to be from compromised iCloud accounts, leading some to point the finger at Apple’s security. However, Apple has contested this allegation vigorously, stating that its systems were not at fault.
Instead, the company said that the victims had been explicitly targeted, with attackers using brute-force tactics to break into the accounts. Weak passwords and a lack of two-factor authentication have also been blamed for allowing the hackers access.
It’s also clear that Apple’s iCloud service was not the only cloud storage platform targetted, as many of the photos were obviously taken with Android devices. This could indicate that other providers were also accessed, although the pictures could have been intercepted by other means.
The list of stars affected by these leaks is huge, with some sources putting the total at around 100. The leaks have been thrown into considerable confusion, however, by questions over the veracity of many of the pictures. Some victims have denied their authenticity, and 4Chan, in particular, has an established reputation for creating fake celebrity pornography.
In October 2014, the FBI raided the home of a Chicago man named Emilio Herrera and seized tech equipment. According to a sworn affadavit, Herrera's IP address was used to access "approximately 572 unique iCloud accounts", although no charges have yet been filed and he has not officially been named as a suspect in the iCloud hacking cases.
Below, we’ve rounded up all of the victims affected by the 2014 iCloud photo hack.
Kym Marsh
Hackers stole private pictures belonging to actress Kym Marsh and posted them on the internet. The pictures were posted to a blog dedicated to stolen photos of celebrities as well as a porn site.
The pictures were thought to be obtained from the iCloud hack in April.
According to the Mirror, the actress was "upset and shocked".
An unnamed source said "She believes they must have been stolen and posted online but Kym had no idea" and added "Sadly, she is just one of many high profile individuals who have been targeted in this way. She has instructed lawyers to pursue those responsible and will also be making a complaint to the police. She will want whoever has done this brought to justice for herself and anyone else who has been targeted."
Jennifer Lawrence
The Hunger Games star was one of the most prominently affected, with around 60 images reportedly posted online. She has also been one of the most vocal stars, repeatedly decrying the hackers’ actions. “Just because I’m a public figure, just because I’m an actress, does not mean that I asked for this,” she told Vanity Fair.
“It does not mean that it comes with the territory. It’s my body, and it should be my choice, and the fact that it is not my choice is absolutely disgusting. I can’t believe that we even live in that kind of world. ”
Kim Kardashian
Notorious celebrity Kim Kardashian was also involved in the leak, with images apparently taken before her marriage posted online.
Krysten Ritter
Krysten Ritter, who has lately gained critical acclaim for her portrayal of Marvel’s superpowered P.I. Jessica Jones, is also believed to be a victim. She has declined to comment on the pictures.
Kate Upton
Swimsuit model Kate Upton had pictures leaked, which also featured her baseball-playing boyfriend Justin Verlander. A statement from her lawyer said that she intended to prosecute the leakers “to the fullest extent possible”.#
Nick Hogan
Son of legendary professional wrestler and suburban commando Hulk Hogan, Nick Hogan remains one of the only confirmed male celebrities to have been targeted amongst the slew of women.
Vanessa Hudgens
The ex-High School Musical star was one of the victims affected, but after being involved in an earlier nude photo scandal, she has said nothing.
Rihanna
Pop superstar Rihanna is no stranger to leaked pics but was among the victims of last year’s hack nevertheless. The photos appear to have been taken during a fitting of some description.
Ariana Grande
The pop starlet was one of the many who claimed the images were fake. “My petite ass is much cuter than that,” she told fans on Twitter.
Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting
Prominent TV roles in both 8 simple Rules and The Big Bang Theory means that Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting has been dealing with claims of nude photos for a large proportion of her career. In this instance, however, the claims are genuine, as she confirmed to talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
Nina Dobrev
Luckily for the Vampire Diaries star, the photos leaked of her were not nudes, but instead merely personal photos from her phone.
Anna Kendrick
Anna Kendrick was similarly spared the ordeal of having naked pictures leaked, and just had regular, non-nude shots published.
Winona Ryder
90’s icon Winona Ryder is also believed to have had pics leaked but has not commented.
Victoria Justice
When faced with the leaks, the actress and former child star initially called the pictures out as fakes. However, shortly afterwards, she stated that she would “not be put in the position to defend myself as to what is real or what is fake.”
Becca Tobin
Becca Tobin, known for her role on hit musical series Glee, tweeted “merry XXXmas!” to her followers when the news of her leaked nudes broke.
Melissa Benoist
Also known for her stint on Glee alongside Becca Tobin, Melissa Benoist’s only response to the scandal was to tweet out a TED talk about clickbait news.
Lea Michele
Another Glee actress, Lea Michele ignored the images altogether and has issued no statement regarding the leaks.
Matt Smith and Daisy Lowe
One of the few couples to be targeted, Matt Smith and Daisy Lowe were pictured naked together in front of a mirror, with around 20 photos posted online.
Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Strahovski, who appeared in Chuck and Mass Effect 2, stated that she felt “great sadness and disappointment” over the issue, but claimed that the images purporting to be of her were fake.
Ali Michael
Despite being among the worst-affected victims, 24-year-old model Ali Michael has declined to comment on the 100-plus photos that claim to feature her.
Brie Larson
Brie Larson has not commented on the leaked photos.
Mary E. Winstead
Known for roles in films like Final Destination 3, The Ring 2 and Death Proof, Mary E Winstead is a stalwart of the horror genre. She has confirmed the authenticity of the photos, stating that she took them with her husband “years ago”, and that she “can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this.”
Jessica Brown-Findlay
Actress Jessica Brown-Findlay had nothing to say regarding the hacks.
Avril Lavigne
Photos of Avril Lavigne were reportedly included in the dump, but the grunge-pop icon has remained silent over their legitimacy.
Teresa Palmer
Teresa Palmer told E! News that while she has “so much to say” regarding the hacks, she is unable to comment, due to the fact that it’s “a federal investigation”.
Erin Heatherton
The Victoria’s Secret model was hit by the hacks but has yet to comment on the photos’ release.
Hope Solo
Olympic football player Hope Solo condemned the leaks in a statement, saying that “this act goes beyond the bounds of human decency”.
Lake Bell
Lake Bell, most recently seen starring alongside Simon Pegg in comedy Man Up, has not made a statement regarding the leaked pictures.
LeeLee Sobiesky
LeeLee Sobiesky was also named as a victim but declined to come forward with an official statement.
Abigail Spencer
The Suits actress was hit worse than most by the hacking scandal, as the culprits posted explicit videos believed to be of the actress, rather than just photos.
Mary-Kate Olsen
Another former child star who allegedly appeared in the photos, Mary-Kate Olsen joins the ranks of stars choosing not to publicly engage with the incident.
Hayden Panettiere
The Heroes star has not commented on the publication of her private photos.
Gabrielle Union
Actress Gabrielle Union released a joint statement with husband Dwayne Wade, describing the leaks as “hate crimes” and stating that the pictures “were shared and deleted solely between my husband and myself”.
Kirsten Dunst
Spider-Man star Kirsten Dunst was one of the first to outright accuse Apple, tweeting “thank you iCloud”, followed by a poop emoji. “I try to have a sense of humour about a really unfortunate situation”, she told E! News.
Amber Heard
More than 50 photos of Amber Heard are reported to gave been released as part of the hack, including pictures which appear to be intended for husband Johnny Depp.
Cara Delevigne
UK model Cara Delevigne was a victim of the leaks, with the photos allegedly starring her described as “highly explicit”.
Meagan Good
Meagan Good’s topless selfies appeared online and the actress has decried people reposting the snaps.
Kate Bosworth
Kate Bosworth was another one of the actresses affected, with around 25 pictures reportedly featuring the star published online.
Mena Suvari
Mena Suvari has been cited as one of the alleged victims of the leak but has yet to publicly respond to the issue.
Jenny McCarthy
Prominent anti-vaccination campaigner Jenny McCarthy was targeted by the hackers, and while her lawyers have said that the “most explicit” pics are fake, they have also implied that some are genuine.
Kelly Brook
In response to the publication of her alleged nudes, Kelly Brook stated that “the only nude photos you'll ever see of me are the ones that I 'leak' and the ones that my head are superimposed on".
Jill Scott
While the singer confirmed that one of the leaked nude pictures of her was real, Scott tweeted that “sorry freaks, [the second] is not me. I wish I had that space between my thighs”.
