Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and Many More Celebrities Nude Photos Emerge in Latest Hacking-Related Leak

An apparent 'second wave' of new content from the same criminal responsible for the Labor Day celebrity picture leaks that enjoyed distribution through Reddit's 'Fappening' sub-forum has arrived. As per the usual for leaks from this source, the adult content predominantly centers around celebrity names, including Kim Kardashian, Avril Lavigne, Hayden Panettiere, Amber Heard and Vanessa Hudgens, among others. By current evidence, the leaker hasn't made any new attacks to acquire these photos. Instead, he's choosing to release the already-stolen content on a staggered schedule – an apt plan for maintaining headlines in the news media.

Although the original 'hackings' were traced back to Apple cloud storage services, additional investigation indicates that the culprit of the leaks isn't a security flaw inherent to iCloud or Find My iPhone. Instead, the criminal most likely stole account names and passwords through phishing scams, thereby logging into the accounts as their rightful owner and appropriating the adult photographs. An example of some of the latest leaked content includes over fifty leaked pictures of Amber Heard, including at least one of an adult nature intended for Johnny Depp (her fiancé).

While numerous affected celebrities ranging from music artists to actresses have issued public statements regarding the original leaks, this new wave has, so far, only heard comments from two of the victims. Actress Meagan Good, who has weathered criticism for sending nude photos to her husband, appealed for solidarity, claiming that she was 'definitely in shock...saddened for every one who is experiencing this.' Gabrielle Union chose to fight back by politicizing the event, noting that '...since the dawn of time women and children, specifically women of color, have been victimized, and the power over their own bodies taken from them.'

However, these leaks are being contested with more than just words, and the legal representatives of some victims have threatened to take legal action against anyone who knowingly distributes their private photographs. Meanwhile, the FBI have confirmed that they are in the middle of an investigation into the leaks to bring the perpetrator to justice.

Both Reddit and 4chan, anarchic 'anything goes' forum websites, have played an unwilling part in distributing these photos. In turn, they both have initiated actions for taking down the content and cracking down on offenders, including, in some cases, closing relevant discussion threads and forums. Regardless, neither website seems to be likely to change their overarching site policies in response to these ongoing leaks.

As always, guaranteeing one's privacy predominantly is the role of the victim. Identifying signs of phishing attacks or the presence of malware designed to steal passwords could cut down on such attacks, in the future, although such news is likely to be a cold comfort to the already-harmed celebrities.