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back to article Nicked iCloud snaps: Celebrities were 'dumb' – new EU digi boss

You’re so dumb! That’s the new EU Digital Commissioner’s message to celebrities who had their iCloud accounts hacked. Let’s hope Gunther Oettinger hasn’t saved any sensitive information in the cloud or his words may come back to haunt him. The German politician was speaking at the European Parliament yesterday in a bid to gain …

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  2. Pete 2 Silver badge

    The weakest link

    > With the poor quality coding & patching & the likes of the NAS we stand very little chance if any against the hackers

    Now that the panic has died down (and all the columnists have run out of ways to describe how boring outrageous this has all been), the word seems to be that these photos were accessed by people phishing for security information from the celebs in question. On the basis that this is the most likely reason it does seem to point the finger at the individuals' poor security awareness (is that another way of saying: don't bother me with details) rather than inherent flaws in the iCloud security implementation.

    Now maybe Apple could have put in place tighter security protocols. But when you have individuals who hand over their own passwords or who choose weak / easily guessed answers, no matter how much you do to "help" them not to, there's always going to be leaks.

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    1. Chris Miller
      Reply Icon

      Re: The weakest link

      Apple did contribute to the problem, because they (inadvertently) left a recovery mechanism that allowed unlimited failed password attempts without locking out the account. That having been said, you can't do much to help people who think "password" is a strong enough password for any purpose, or even the 'clever' ones who chose "Passw0rd"

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      1. Gannon (J.) Dick
        Reply Icon
        IT Angle

        Re: The weakest link

        Exactly @Chris Miller

        In the US, you have to get a Learner's Permit so you can practice, so you can get a License to drive a car.

        Almost everywhere. On Wall St. and in Silicon Valley if you have an IPO or two on your CV the assumption is that you were granted an iLicence to do whatever the hell you damn well please any time you damn well please to do it.

        Oh yes, the IT Angle my friendly El Reg Icon promised ...

        (wonky, nearly indecipherable W3C snooze-fest alert. May require Addition, Subtraction AND Reading Skills)

        http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/uri/2014Sep/0006.html

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  3. Irongut

    "might not even have been aware of the backups’ existence, since they are created automatically in the background on many phones"

    Sounds like stupidity to me whether they were male or female. See I'm not sexist, unlike most of the so called feminists I've ever met. I am however anti-stupid.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Many people buy Ithings 'just because it works' and don't bother to really explore how and why it works. For instance, I got a used Iphone 4. Icloud backup was on (I turned it off) and the person who had the Iphone before me had no idea that this backup was being done. Perhaps people need to educate themselves on what is going on in their Ithingy. Apple could help with this matter.

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    2. Flocke Kroes Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Stupid was a poor word choice

      It causes a defensive reaction, which does not lead to people learning how to protect themselves.

      A better word choice would be computer illiterate - especially if it is understood that the level of competence required to keep private data secret on an internet connected device is 'computing professional' at minimum. For high value data, that should be uprated to 'computer security specialist'.

      Most people are not going to go to the trouble of getting that level of computer literacy. If they have to take nude selfies, then their only hope of keeping them secret is to use a camera with no radio, and not to view the photos on any device with an internet connection or enough storage to hold a copy. While we are at it, a reminder that cameras can only be assumed to be off when the lens cover is on. Getting people to listen to that message is difficult if you start by saying "You're so dumb."

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    3. Jamie Jones Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      WTF?

      " "might not even have been aware of the backups’ existence, since they are created automatically in the background on many phones"

      Sounds like stupidity to me whether they were male or female."

      Typical geek response.

      On what planet inhabited by other than the typical Reg Reader would that be considered stupid?

      Seriously, there's nothing stupid for someone not into tech to not know that their phone sends copies of the photos they take over the internet. I struggle to understand the mindset of someone who really thinks that is a common-sense obviousness.

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  4. Vociferous

    Just a matter of time.

    The EU is very heavily pro-surveillance and pro-censorship, as the idiotic "right to be forgotten" ruling shows, and it's just a matter of time until it passes legislation to let politicians and celebs censor unflattering images.

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  5. chivo243 Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Tags

    Cloud

    Ignorance

    Nude pics

    Hackers

    Internet Buzz

    Plus, no matter how they worded it, stupid is as stupid does. Maybe they should think of hiring a con$ultant with all the cash they make from that hot body they don't want anybody to see for free. Did I say that out loud??

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Prevention is better than Cure.

    I have to agree with him. I think vanity also plays a major role in why women/Girls end up taking topless or nude 'Selfies'. The 'Hacking' is just a MacGuffin. You have to draw the line somewhere or you're going to be proping up the Lowest Common Denominators of Humanity forever.

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  7. Bucky 2

    "Victim"? "shaming"?

    If there were millions of people who wanted to see your junk, and you wanted to show them your junk without seeming to appear sleazy (and boost your popularity), you might cook up a scheme that looked remarkably similar to this.

    You'd wring your hands at the same time you rang the cash register.

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  8. Hellcat
    Paris Hilton

    Protect your company information!

    Any multi-million company will have (I hope) a policy on protecting their confidential company data. That could be financial information, product schematics or secret recipes. That may include not using cloud storage for their most sensitive data in case of loss/leaks.

    I see a direct comparison here. For these celebs their image is the product. They hire management to ensure they're seen in all the right places, and don't get seen in the wrong ones etc. These managers should be making sure the product isn't at risk, and that should include digitally - making sure sensitive *ahem* data isn't in the cloud or just about anywhere easy to steal/lose.

    All in all, I put it down as a management cockup.

    Cockups? leaking? Well there can be only 1 icon now...

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  9. lucki bstard

    A bit or personal responsibility should be in order regardless of what gender you are.

    If you cannot be bothered to learn how something works but you insist on using it don't be surprised when it bites you in the ass. That applies from using a hammer to the smartphone you use.

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