Flaw in iCloud could put private photos at risk

A breach in Apple’s iCloud service may be to blame for a slew of nude celebrity photos hitting the Internet.

Hundreds of pictures of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars appeared online Sunday night, apparently from private cellphones. The victims included Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Though it has not been confirmed, security experts suspect hackers accessed the photos through cloud services, specifically Apple’s iCloud. Even when a photo is deleted on a cellphone, it can remain on the cloud.

Cloud storage is convenient for storing data, but a security flaw may have put privacy at risk.

A piece of computer code had previously been posted online that allowed hackers to repeatedly guess hundreds of common passwords to gain access to an account without the legal user knowing. Apple issued a fix to the problem and has not made any comment on the situation.

With technology constantly changing and security issues always a concern, experts recommend making sure your passwords are not words that can be found in a dictionary. Experts recommend long passwords with a random combination of numbers, letters and characters.