When naked picture of Scarlett Johanssonhit the internet , take notice — but not for that grounds .
If You Are Famous and Take Nude Photos of Yourself , They Will stop Up on the cyberspace
If the wave of other potential leak pics obtained from “ hacked phones ” is any indication — Jessica Alba , Vanessa Hudgens and Blake Lively , among others - ScarJo is not the only one using her phone to capture her secret - now - public moments . How exactly does a phone get “ hacked ” though , its rawest inner bits rip out and scattered across the entanglement ?
It ’s still not clear precisely how exposure of ScarJo ’s tail end were swiped from her phone , but that variety of makes it worse , since there ’s about as many path to skim a phone as there are to bark senescent seal . Which is like , a luck .
http://gawker.com/5840812/the-loneliest-baby-seal-in-the-world
For example , clicking on a malicious link from her phone could have caused ScarJo worry , explains Gabriel Landau , a principle analyst at Independent Security Evaluators . It ’s obviously not a dear idea to flick on links from people you do n’t jazz , but it ’s especially difficult to sniff out a bad url when an e-mail is likely from a friend — peculiarly with the ubiquity of URL shorterners , which in effect mask the true universal resource locator . Say someone forges the electronic mail header and ScarJo conceive she ’s get an email from Charlie Sheen - it ’s easier for that link to escort her to a internet site that ’s up to no trade good . Well , maybe not Charlie Sheen , but you get the idea .
Once directed to the malicious web site , the headphone ’s connection web internet browser and operating organisation can be silently compromised . Imagine something like jailbreakme.com , which fleetly exempt your iPhone of Apple ’s customization restriction . Except instead of inviting a programme into your earphone to help you free it from Apple ’s beautiful slavery , you ’ve actually invited in a Trojan Equus caballus filled with horribleness . A maliciously crafted file creeping from the website to your phone could add code to your phone ’s web internet browser and operating scheme . That code could carry it to do thing it usually would n’t want to do , like shipping out photograph to unintended recipient .
This site - delivered computer programme could also just sit on your telephone set , waiting to do thing more frightening than plainly observing your picture - documented biography . “ Once they have this malware running , ” Landau explains , “ they can monitor your emplacement , and even record with your sound ’s cameras and mike . ” terrorize . The bright side : This attack is less unwashed because it ’s much tougher than spoof an electronic mail header or guessing a low hanging surety interrogative . Us normal people also miss the goodness and the interest of celebrities , so we ’re less likely to get hit .
More likely , though — and more applicable to you and me — security expert surmise that someone broke into an on-line serving that stored the pic , not the phone itself . ( In other words , no Swordfish antic here . Your BlackBerrys and iPhones are secure ! ) If she emailed the pics to the soul she think to please , or used a pic syncing service to broadcast her photos to the swarm for sharing , a mere compromise watchword or a lame security dubiousness is all it claim to give the hack entry . Which isexactly how the likely hackers , Hollywood Leaks , have hacked the 50 or so fame they lay claim to have target .
http://gawker.com/5835611/meet-the-hollywood-hackers-coming-for-your-nude-pics
Photo and life syncing service of process only expand the amount of data that a compromise password can give an intruder . “ On the surface , ” says Chester Wisniewski , a Senior Security Advisor at Sophos , “ it sounds like best estimation ever , but the cloud is absolutely a double - inch steel . The quantity of stuff foregather — how many place you require to listen to your music , for instance — makes our lives easier , but ease for ourselves makes it easier for others to gain access . ”
Just look at Sarah Palin ’s 2008 Yahoo mail break in , where getting into the frailty presidential candidate ’s private correspondence was as wanton as venture her security question during a login reset attempt . “ The countersign reset is basically a lower security password , ” explicate Landau . “ If you pick a solid password but your password reset is your pet ’s name … ” Your private photos are suddenly not anymore .
Vulnerability in swarm - based services themselves can also get intruders in . Remember when that MySpace hack downloaded half a million photos by getting back door entree to secret profiles ? The dudetold Threat Level ’s Kevin Poulsenhe did it “ simply to essay that it could be done . ” Then he sharpen out , “ It is ridiculous to think that there is seclusion on public websites . ” If the people slip the photos do n’t believe our online services can protect our privacy , perhaps we should n’t either .
Rachel Swaby is a freelance writer living in San Francisco . correspond her out onTwitter .
Originalphoto by Cheon Fong Liew . Licensed underCreativeCommons .
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