# The Internet is abuzz right now with a massive celebrity cellphone hack. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 1, 2014, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136 "2014-09-01T09:36:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/121 "2014-09-03T00:25:39Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > [I like this Forbes article about the whole thing.](http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/09/01/jennifer-lawrence-nude-photo-leak-isnt-a-scandal-its-a-sex-crime/) > > Some Quotes: [I like this picture of the article better.](http://i.imgur.com/aS8fqlI.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/122 "2014-09-03T00:41:10Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > Apple does have two step verification for their services, though it could be possible the young actors in question didn’t have the feature enabled. > Apple’s two step verification FAQ: [http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5570](http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5570) > > Could also be that an employee for the ISP the victims are using is behind the leaks. Yeah, [apparently Apple only pretends to have two-factor authentication](http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2014/09/celebrity_photo_hack_blame_apple_for_its_disregard_for_user_security.html), along with a number of other security flaws they knew about and didn’t fix. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/123 "2014-09-03T01:49:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Not necessarily. All we have at this point is Maroney saying she was underage. > [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > I’ll believe she was underage when it is proven. Are you kidding me? she has been 18 for a few months only, you really want to gamble on this hoping the pictures were taken somewhere between december and whenever the hack took place? ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/124 "2014-09-03T06:36:26Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > I cant remember her name offhand. Jessica whatshername from Downton Abbey. Hers is a career that will be difficult to get back on track. The cock-eyed girl? How’s that worse than fucking a hair-care appliance, or being covered in cum, or lying about whether the pictures are real? ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/125 "2014-09-03T06:45:11Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > He was caught doing something he shouldn’t have been doing, none of this girls did anything wrong. And his pictures were shared by the person he sent them to, not some random third party. It is a completely different situation. They all took photos of themselves they didn’t expect to become public. They seem to have all put them on the internet too. Same thing. Some of these pictures seem to have been shared by the people they were sent to on a ring of people sharing celeb nudes. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/126 "2014-09-03T06:51:05Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I found Olivia Munn’s first set of leaked cell phone pics from a couple years ago more scandalous than this current deal, and by a decent margin. I’m not even convinced the photo of her in this leak is actually her. (There’s no head.) One of them’s got a head, and is less compromising. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/127 "2014-09-03T08:09:00Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Are you kidding me? she has been 18 for a few months only, you really want to gamble on this hoping the pictures were taken somewhere between december and whenever the hack took place? Good point. I wasn’t aware Maroney was only eighteen. To be honest, I had never heard of McKayla Maroney prior to this week. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/128 "2014-09-03T09:00:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Good point. I wasn’t aware Maroney was only eighteen. To be honest, I had never heard of McKayla Maroney prior to this week. I did not know her name, but the face was familiar from when she became a meme during the Olympics. Which is a lot more than I can say for most of the celebrities in this leak. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/129 "2014-09-03T10:27:43Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > The cock-eyed girl? How’s that worse than fucking a hair-care appliance, or being covered in cum, or lying about whether the pictures are real? The woman with the classic facial is on the lower end of the acting scale. She made her name as a model of swimwear and so on. Being covered in man goo is the normal behaviour expected of bubbly blondes with big tits. Its embarrassing for sure; its notcareer threatening. Kate Upton will still the part in her next third rate titillating movie role. Its not just about how explicit these photos and videos are. Its also about the behaviour. Having a thing for sniffing bottoms is not normal behaviour expected of English actresses who’s major roles so far have been in period pieces. Go to google images. With Kate Upton images you’ll be hard pressed to find anything other than boobs and ass in them. Google the other actress and youll find her mostly covered head to toe in clothes. Their public personas are different. Thats why the explicitness of each pic/video is not the only issue. Go back to older celebs(basically because thats who I know best). Bo Derek getting caught doing healthily explicit stuff is not a career breaker. For a relatively unknown Shelley Long it probably is. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/130 "2014-09-03T10:33:53Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Are you kidding me? she has been 18 for a few months only, you really want to gamble on this hoping the pictures were taken somewhere between december and whenever the hack took place? A few months. You meant to say for the best part of a year, surely? I did say I have no idea how old she is in the photos and vids. That the age issue is being used as a scare tactic. In fact I said nothing about gambling on her age. I simply meant that I will personally believe she was under 18 only when proven. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/131 "2014-09-03T11:07:23Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > Its not just about how explicit these photos and videos are. Its also about the behaviour. Having a thing for sniffing bottoms is not normal behaviour expected of English actresses who’s major roles so far have been in period pieces. Go to google images. With Kate Upton images you’ll be hard pressed to find anything other than boobs and ass in them. Google the other actress and youll find her mostly covered head to toe in clothes. Their public personas are different. Thats why the explicitness of each pic/video is not the only issue. Go back to older celebs(basically because thats who I know best). Bo Derek getting caught doing healthily explicit stuff is not a career breaker. For a relatively unknown Shelley Long it probably is. Finding bottoms inherently amusing is about as British as it gets. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/132 "2014-09-03T11:10:23Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Yeah, [apparently Apple only pretends to have two-factor authentication](http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2014/09/celebrity_photo_hack_blame_apple_for_its_disregard_for_user_security.html), along with a number of other security flaws they knew about and didn’t fix. Indeed. I was surprised to see the list of what two-factor does with Apple and finding “checking a new device logging in” not on there. Apparently they are claiming that two-factor doesn’t get activated straight away in case you are someone that has compromised another’s account and you are trying to permanently block them from it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/133 "2014-09-03T12:26:26Z")
Hopefully, this will quiet the people who claim that Apple security is heads-and-tails superior over Google’s, Microsoft’s, etc. And, hell, since I’m dreaming, hopefully I’ll get the mail today to find a certified check for $1 million made out to me, tax-free. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/134 "2014-09-03T15:12:03Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I don’t need to explain why stealing nudie picks and emptying your bank account are two vastly different things. Sane people immediately recognize that the two are not even remotely equivalent. You’re right. For many people the stolen pictures will be much worse. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/135 "2014-09-03T15:47:33Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Your explanation is simplistic in the extreme. “Both are stealing” doesn’t make them the same thing. If I steal $10 from you, that’s petty theft, a misdemeanor. If I steal your life savings, that’s grand larceny, a felony. See, we in the real world recognize shades of gray, unlike your ridiculously primitive black-and-white worldview. > > I don’t need to explain why stealing nudie picks and emptying your bank account are two vastly different things. Sane people immediately recognize that the two are not even remotely equivalent. Thank God you’re sane and not primitive! You’re right, emptying your bank account would probably be worse overall than having nude pictures posted for all the world to see. And if we had banks run by third-world overlords, that might actually be a possibility. But as I already said, in the real world you claim to be so fond of, banks have identity theft/fraud protection - I’ve actually had my account hacked, and while it was surely a pain in the ass, I got my money back and was issued new cards within a few days. So, basically, it’s a minor inconvenience, which to you is a million times worse than having nude/sexual pictures distributed for strangers and loved ones to see. But then, since you already admitted you’d look at nude pictures of friends or neighbors even though you knew it was creepy (because who can control the urge to see boobs even when it’s a blatant violation of someone’s privacy, amirite?), it’s already apparent your thinking is pretty skewed on the subject. ETA: tl;dr version: what **obfusciatrist** said. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/136 "2014-09-03T15:55:45Z")
If someone steals your money, they have your money and you don’t. If someone hacks your phone and copies your nude pictures, they have the pictures and so do you. Not equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/137 "2014-09-03T15:59:19Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > If someone steals your money, they have your money and you don’t. If someone hacks your phone and copies your nude pictures, they have the pictures and so do you. Not equivalent. Oh, you still have the pictures! That’s the point. So, since you still have the pictures, it’s all good. Also, I literally just posted about the way getting your bank info hacked actually affects your balance (i.e., it doesn’t, really). Man, the stupid in this thread is mind-boggling. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/138 "2014-09-03T16:05:49Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > If someone steals your money, they have your money and you don’t. If someone hacks your phone and copies your nude pictures, they have the pictures and so do you. Not equivalent. If your bank is hacked, it’s a hassle to get your money back, but your bank balance will be the same. If someone steals your nude pictures, you lose some of your dignity. It can’t be undone or made good. You lose some amount of dignity and have to deal with the shame of knowing that people have seen pictures of you in very private moments. ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/139 "2014-09-03T16:32:46Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > If someone steals your money, they have your money and you don’t. If someone hacks your phone and copies your nude pictures, they have the pictures and so do you. Not equivalent. Also, if someone hacks your phone, not only do you still have the pictures, you gain shame and embarrassment as a bonus! So, like, you end up ahead! Those hackers actually did those celebrities a huge favor! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136/140 "2014-09-03T16:53:20Z")
Isn’t claiming to be underaged in the pics a two-edged sword, though? If Maroney deliberately took the pictures and sent them to _anyone_, even just a trusted boyfriend, then couldn’t she herself be charged with distribution of child pornography? On the other hand, though… What if someone started with a legitimate but non-prurient picture of Maroney from when she was underaged (say, from an event at the Olympics), and pasted the head onto the image of the naked body of another woman? That would be consistent with the pictures being fake, but would it count as child pornography? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-is-abuzz-right-now-with-a-massive-celebrity-cellphone-hack/697136.md?page=8)