4chan nude photo scandal - Are there more nude images to come? Rumours suggest toll could hit 423
While 101 celebrities were initially thought to be implicated in the leaked pictures, rumours now suggest it could be up to 423 in total
Up to 423 celebrities may be implicated in the nude photo leak scandal which hit the Internet late last night.
While initial reports on 4chan, the forum where the first images of Jennifer Lawrence were leaked, suggested 101 stars were involved, it is now believed to be much higher, although it is unclear at this stage whether there will more celebrities involved or just more images of the ones already known.
It has been rumoured that the anonymous "collector", who has insisted they did not hack the images, has in fact got 423 images on file.
A recent post the on the site, which allows users to post anonymously, sees a user asking others to collate all the leaked images they have, that so far comes to a tally of 423.
The person behind the leaked images posted a brief statement a few hours ago, saying that they were going to bed because "s*** was getting real."
On Sunday evening nude snaps, some which are extremely explicit, were posted online along with 100 others.
Within hours Twitter was awash with hundreds of thousands of tweets about the photographs which are also alleged to include Brits Michelle Keegan, Cara Delevigne, Cat Deeley and Kelly Brook.
But how did the hacker access the stars' pictures?
We look at the key theories behind the leak:
The most popular rumour is that a person or several people maliciously accessed iCloud and various celebrities’ mobile phones.
Final Destination actress Mary Winstead - one of those who's photos were leaked - mentions that her images were deleted a while ago.
This raises the question of whether or not a deleted iCloud photo is ever truly deleted.
She took to Twitter to comment on the hack - saying: "I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this. Feeling for everyone who got hacked."
Another possibility is that someone close to these stars had direct access to their phones and got hold of the photos that way.
But it is highly unlikely that someone would have had personal access to the phones of so many stars.
They would also have needed to know the phones' pass codes to access the photos.
Another rumour is that a disgruntled or vengeful former boyfriend, or boyfriends could have leaked the images.
This has been discounted by many online however, because of the sheer number of stars who have fallen victim to the leak.
4Chan users can anonymously post photos and videos, as well as commenting on others' posts.
Users do not need to register an account before participating.
The site is split into various boards, each with its own specific content from video games and music to photography and snaps of celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence.
It originally launched in 2003, modelled on Japanese imageboards, but has since expanded and has been linked to Internet subcultures and activism.
The site has been linked to various high profile hacks, including in 2008 when Sarah Palin's email was broken in to - with an anonymous hacker posting snaps of the contents on Wikileaks.
Jen's agent told the Mirror: "This is a flagrant violation of privacy.
“The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence."
Within seconds of the images appearing on the internet, Jennifer Lawrence began trending on Twitter.
"Today is a good day," wrote on fan.
"The best way to star the week," added another.
But some of J-Law's fans were outraged by the photos.
"I just hope to heck this doesn't ruin this amazingly talented, grounded young woman's confidence, & thus career," wrote one user.
"Guys can you please stop tweeting nudes of #JenniferLawrence she's a person! What are you doing?! Think before you tweet!!" said another.
Comments
Post a Comment