It just got even worse for the 101 celebrities whose naked photos were hacked from their iCloud accounts: An analysis of the metadata on Kate Upton's photos showed that her account was hacked using a piece of software intended for law-enforcement agencies that downloads an entire backup copy of all the files on a target's iPhone.

The software is called EPPB, or Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker. It is intended for police departments and government agencies that want to "rip" entire copies of iPhones for evidence. We first saw the story on 9to5Mac, but the full account is on Wired. Here's the key section:

If a hacker can obtain a user’s iCloud username and password with iBrute, he or she can log in to the victim’s iCloud.com account to steal photos. But if attackers instead impersonate the user’s device with Elcomsoft’s tool, the desktop application allows them to download the entire iPhone or iPad backup as a single folder, says Jonathan Zdziarski, a forensics consult and security researcher. That gives the intruders access to far more data, he says, including videos, application data, contacts, and text messages.

... Based on his analysis of the metadata from leaked photos of Kate Upton, he says he’s determined that the photos came from a downloaded backup that would be consistent with the use of iBrute and EPPB. If a full device backup was accessed, he believes the rest of the backup’s data may still be possessed by the hacker and could be used for blackmail or finding other targets.

Read the whole thing here.

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SEE ALSO: On The Eve Of What Was Supposed To Be Tim Cook's Greatest Triumph, Apple Is In Disarray

SEE ALSO: How To Switch Off iCloud So Hackers Can't Find Your Naked Photos

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Apple's cloud storage service has its fair share of issues. Luckily, iCloud is about to get some major improvements within the next month.

Thanks to iOS 8, Apple's forthcoming software update for mobile devices like iPhones and iPads, iCloud will finally receive some important updates that have been sorely missing from the service since it was introduced in October 2011.

iCloud is one of Apple's most important services, as it is designed to help all of the company's devices communicate and work together. So we have outlined all of the various problems and highlighted the ways in which the iCloud update in iOS 8 will resolve those issues.

iOS 8 may not suddenly turn iCloud into the best cloud service, but it ought to ameliorate some of the bigger issues consumers have faced over the years.

Problem: Syncing issues can result in data loss and file corruption.

Solution: Photos and documents will soon show you when they last synced with iCloud, and Handoff in iOS 8 will let you pick up from where you left off on other devices — even if you’re not in Wi-Fi range, because other devices will be able to leverage the iPhone’s Instant Hotspot. Handoff works with Apple’s first-party apps, but developers will be able to build it into their apps as well.

Problem: iCloud Photo Stream holds onto your photos for only 30 days — so you’ll often keep photos on your local device and run out of space.

Solution: With iCloud Photo Library coming in iOS 8, the 30-day rule will be gone: You’ll soon be able to keep all of your photos in iCloud and download them anytime to any of your devices, or even access them on the web. The first 5GB of space will be free, and other storage plans will start at $0.99 a month.

Problem: iCloud doesn't do enough to help free up space on local devices.

Solution: A new option in iCloud Photo Settings allows you to store your full-resolution photos in iCloud while keeping device-optimized versions on your iPhone, which ought to save some room because photos can take up a ton of space. How much storage you'll save with this new system, however, has yet to be determined.

San Francisco (AFP) - Apple is ramping up iCloud defenses in the aftermath of hackers swiping nude photos of celebrities from the online digital vault, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Journal quoted Apple chief executive Tim Cook as saying iCloud accounts of film stars including Jennifer Lawrence were looted by hackers who used tactics such as correctly answering security questions to obtain passwords, or tricking victims into revealing user IDs and passwords with ruses referred to as "phishing" scams.

In coming weeks, Apple will start sending people alerts when attempts are made to change passwords, restore iCloud data to new devices, or when someone logs in for the first time from a new Apple gadget, the Journal reported.

Tools will be in place for legitimate users of accounts to seize back control. Cook was quoted as saying that Apple also wants to make people more savvy when it comes to guarding against hackers with strong passwords and other techniques.

"When I step back from this terrible scenario that happened and say what more could we have done, I think about the awareness piece," Cook was quoted as saying.

"I think we have a responsibility to ratchet that up. That's not really an engineering thing."

Apple will expand the use of "two-factor authentication," which requires someone trying to access an account to augment a password with something else such as a temporary code sent by text message to the account holder's mobile phone.

Apple said Tuesday a "targeted attack" led to the release of nude photos of celebrities including Oscar winner Lawrence but insisted there was no breach of its cloud storage system.

The admission came as experts and lawyers said the hack was a wake-up call about the dangers posed by technology to people's privacy, whether they are stars or not. 

"After more than 40 hours of investigation, we have discovered that certain celebrity accounts were compromised by a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the Internet," Apple said.

"None of the cases we have investigated has resulted from any breach in any of Apple's systems including iCloud or Find my iPhone. We are continuing to work with law enforcement to help identify the criminals involved."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed it was investigating.

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We now have a good idea how the iCloud accounts of celebrities were accessed. Posts on the porn forum AnonIB revealed how "OriginalGuy" shared the collection of images, also showing how hackers had exploited holes in Apple's iCloud service for years. But it's not immediately clear why celebrities stored their deleted photographs online, with many of the naked photographs seeming to date back years.

Celebrities are constantly stalked by their fans and by paparazzi. They complain frequently about their privacy being destroyed. It would seem puzzling why, at the same time, they were storing nude images of themselves online. Didn't they fear being exposed?

It's possible jet-setting celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence didn't regularly back up (and update) their iCloud accounts. If you delete a photo from your phone, it won't be deleted from the iCloud until a new backup is created. This means that photos they deleted from their devices might have remained on their iCloud without the celebrities' knowledge.

Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead was the first celebrity to confirm the authenticity of the leaked photos, and she said the photos were taken "years ago" before being deleted "long ago." Winstead seemed confused as to how hackers gained access to a photo she had deleted, but iCloud's unclear photo backup system could be to blame.

We're not saying this is the precise, definite cause of stars stashing a mountain of their private material online. But the iPhone backup process sure doesn't make it easy if you want to stop that from happening by accident.

Here is how it works. The iPhone runs an iCloud backup only when three conditions are met:

1. The device is charging.
2. It is connected to Wi-Fi.
3. And it is locked.

The only other way to create an iCloud backup is to manually force the device to do it.

Busy celebrities rarely have time to connect to a Wi-Fi network and leave their phone charging. Stars like Kate Upton spend much of their lives traveling from photo shoots to awards dinners, staying in hotels or relaxing on private jets. 

Such celebrities are loath to just leave their phones unattended while plugged into a socket, because their entourages are often also the source of tabloid leaks. They probably don't trust hotel Wi-Fi services either — would you, when you're a frequent target of privacy invasions? Jennifer Lawrence admitted to being lax with iCloud backups in a red-carpet interview with MTV.

Speaking before the leaked photos emerged, Lawrence remarked: "My iCloud keeps telling me to back it up, and I'm like, I don't know how to back you up. Do it yourself!"

The news that Lawrence doesn't know how to use iCloud would have been music to the ears of any hacker looking for a target.

Irregular iCloud backups mean that photos can remain online for months after they were deleted from the camera roll of the device.

If, for example, an actress took a photo of herself to send to a friend, went to sleep, and her iPhone ran an iCloud backup overnight, that photo would then be stored online. But if she deleted the photograph from the iPhone Camera Roll before heading out for a two-week business trip to Los Angeles, that photo would still live on in iCloud.

The photo, which she thinks she deleted, is just sitting there on iCloud. You also can't "see" which photos are in iCloud until you perform a restorative backup. And why would you, if you already believed you deleted the private image?

Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company would roll out a number of improvements to iCloud security over the next month. Among the changes, Apple plans to send emails and push notifications when iCloud backups are accessed as well as modifying its two-factor authentication system.

NOW WATCH: How To Make Sure You Never Forget Your Passwords Again

SEE ALSO: 'OriginalGuy': The Full Story Of The iCloud Hacker Who Leaked Those Naked Celebrity Photos

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By now you've probably heard about CelebGate, the nude photo hack that has Apple users worried about the security of their online data. 

The hackers gained access to celebrity photos via iCloud, Apple's online storage service.

On Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that there would be iCloud security updates. Those updates will alert users when someone tries to access your iTunes or iCloud accounts from a new device. Users will also be alerted when anyone tries to change the password on their account.

That notification system — often called two-step or two-factor authentication — only works for iTunes right now. It will work for iCloud when iOS 8, the new operating system for iPhones and iPads, rolls out this fall. Still, it's something you should set up now.

So, to be clear, two-step authentication won't protect your iCloud photos yet. It will only help protect your iTunes account and keep someone from purchasing music, apps, movies, etc. from the iTunes store using your credit card. iCloud won't be protected until iOS 8 launches.

Enabling two-factor authentication takes a few steps, but they're all easy. 

Head to iCloud.com and log in with your Apple ID. This is the same thing you use to log into iTunes or the App Store.

Click your name in the upper right corner, then click account settings.

Then click on your Apple ID.

Click the blue button that says "Manage your Apple ID."

Clicking the Password and Security tab will prompt two security questions.

Let's Get started.

This page explains how Apple's two-factor authentication works. Hit continue when you're ready.

Click Get Started.

Your first trusted device needs to receive SMS text messages. 

That will prompt Apple to text you a four-digit code.

Now, go back to your computer. Enter the code Apple texted you here.

Once you verify your device, Apple will give you a Recovery Key. Print this out or write it down. Keep it in a safe place. You may need it later if you forget your password.

All you'll need to do is check a box indicating that you understand how two-factor authentication works. Then you're done!

What happens now?

Whenever you try to log into iTunes with a new Apple device, Apple will prompt you to enter a secondary code on top of your regular password. This code will be sent to one of your other verified Apple devices like an iPhone or iPad. Unless a bad person also has access to one of your other Apple devices, there's no way he or she can break into your account.

Once iOS 8 launches this fall, you should download and install it on all your Apple devices. That way 2-step authentication will help protect your iCloud data like photos too. iOS 8 will be a free download.

SEE ALSO: 6 Tim Cook Hires That Prove Apple Is Becoming A Luxury Brand

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The page that served as a centralized hub of leaked celebrity nude photos has finally been banned from Reddit.

Reddit said in a statement that the site "deplore[s] the theft of these images" and that Reddit does not "condone their widespread distribution." Reddit also made clear in its statement that the site does not plan to change its policies because of this incident.

Visitors to /r/thefappening are now greeted with this message:

The Fappening served as a dumping ground for the nude celebrity photos that were leaked last weekend. In a strange move, Redditors within The Fappening started donating to the Prostate Cancer Foundation "in honor of" Jennifer Lawrence, one of the celebrities who was affected by the massive hack.

Moderators of The Fappening started panicking once they realized that nudes of Olympic athlete McKayla Maroney were taken when she was underage, meaning that sharing the photos could result in charges of child pornography.

The moderators of The Fappening were reportedly warned of the potential child pornography by Reddit administrators.

It's unclear why it took this long for Reddit to ban The Fappening. Over the course of the last week, Business Insider reached out to Reddit multiple times to inquire why it left the site up and got no response.

Read the full statement from Reddit below:

Last weekend, reddit was used as one of the primary centers of distribution of private and unlawfully obtained images of celebrities.

In accordance with our legal obligations, we expeditiously removed content hosted on our servers as soon as we received DMCA requests from the lawful owners of that content, and in cases where the images were not hosted on our servers, we promptly directed them to the hosts of those services.  

While current US law does not prohibit linking to stolen materials, we deplore the theft of these images and we do not condone their widespread distribution.

Nevertheless, reddit’s platform is structurally based on the ability for people to distribute, promote, and highlight textual materials as well as links to images and other media. We understand the harm that misusing our site does to the victims of this theft, and we deeply sympathize.

Having said that, we are unlikely to make changes to our existing site content policies in response to this specific event.

The reason is because we consider ourselves not just a company running a website where one can post links and discuss them, but the government of a new type of community. The role and responsibility of a government differs from that of a private corporation, in that it exercises restraint in the usage of its powers.

While we may believe that users should behave in a certain way, the methods we use to influence that behavior fall into two different classes:

1. Actions which cause or are likely to cause imminent physical danger (e.g. suicides, instructions for self-harm, or specific threats) or which damage the integrity and ability of the site to function (e.g. spam, brigading, vote-cheating) are prohibited or enforced by “hard” policy, such as bans and rules.  

2. Actions which are morally objectionable or otherwise inappropriate we choose to influence by exhortation, emphasizing positive examples, or by selectively highlighting good content and good actions. For example, this includes our selection of subreddits which populate on our default front page, subreddits we highlight in blog posts, and subreddits we promote via other media channels.

The philosophy behind this stems from the idea that each individual is responsible for his or her moral actions.

We uphold the ideal of free speech on reddit as much as possible not because we are legally bound to, but because we believe that you - the user - has the right to choose between right and wrong, good and evil, and that it is your responsibility to do so. When you know something is right, you should choose to do it. But as much as possible, we will not force you to do it.

You choose what to post. You choose what to read. You choose what kind of subreddit to create and what kind of rules you will enforce. We will try not to interfere - not because we don’t care, but because we care that you make your choices between right and wrong.

Virtuous behavior is only virtuous if it is not arrived at by compulsion. This is a central idea of the community we are trying to create.

As always, we welcome ideas on how better to achieve these aims, and we will continually evolve both our policies and actions.

NOW WATCH: How To Make Sure You Never Forget Your Passwords Again

SEE ALSO: The Leaked Photos Of McKayla Maroney Were Taken When She Was Underage, And Reddit Is Freaking Out

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It looks like Apple is already amping up iCloud's security features in response to the recent celebrity photo leak incident.

Just five days after Apple CEO Tim Cook promised to increase the security of iCloud and iTunes, MacRumors reports that Apple has begun sending out email alerts to notify users when their iCloud accounts are accessed via the web.

Apple is also planning on sending out email alerts every time it notices a login from a new device, a password is changed, or anytime a device is restored from an account.

 Here's what one of the email alerts looks like, courtesy of MacRumors.

The new security rollout arrives just a day before Apple's highly anticipated product unveiling, where the company is expected to reveal its new iPhone 6 handsets and first wearable device for the wrist.

Both the iPhone and the iWatch are rumored to leverage an NFC chip for wireless payments, and Apple is likely trying to re-establish trust in both its current and future security features before the big event tomorrow.

SEE ALSO: Here's A Good Explanation Of Why So Many Naked Celebrity Pictures Are On iCloud

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Following the company’s gigantic iPhone and Watch announcement in Cupertino, California, Apple announced new iCloud pricing on its website. 

The news, which we first spotted on MacRumors, comes right before Apple’s cloud service gets a major boost in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite; iOS 8 will launch to the public on Sept. 17, and OS X Yosemite will arrive sometime this fall.

As they did before, iCloud customers will still get 5GB of storage for free, but now, they can purchase an extra 20GB of space for $0.99 per month. For 1TB of storage, users will pay $20 a month.

The pricing plan is certainly improved over the former deal, considering many users don’t use all that storage. But Apple’s iCloud mainly handles documents, photos, apps, and music — specifically within Apple’s ecosystem devices and services. 

Professionals and businesspeople who rely on full cloud services across a wider range of devices for things like videos, large photos, and back-end services, might want to consider Google Drive or Dropbox, which gives users the same terabyte of storage for half of Apple’s price ($9.99 a month, each). Amazon also charges $0.03 per GB per month for its S3 cloud service, which is a favorite among developers (Dropbox included). 

That said, Apple users will likely start using iCloud a bit more once iOS 8 releases to the public, since that new mobile operating system includes many improvements to iCloud. Syncing is highly improved, iCloud Photo Library will keep all of your photos in iCloud forever (instead of the current 30-day period), and it will soon support and open all document types on any Mac or iOS device. Apple will make several other improvements to iCloud as well, which will become effective starting Sept. 17.

SEE ALSO: 6 Ways Apple Will Fix iCloud In iOS 8

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Apple put on quite the show at its big event on Tuesday.

Apple revealed two new iPhone 6 models and the long-rumored Apple Watch wearable, and the company even paraded out U2 to announce a free album for all iTunes members.

But once the hype settled and the cheering died down, we were still left scratching our heads over several key details that Apple sidestepped.

Here are some of the things Apple failed to mention.

From a design standpoint, why did Apple make the jump to larger phones? Apple usually has a good explanation on the reasons behind any radical change to its devices, but it was silent as to the reasoning this time around.

Not only are both the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus larger than any previously released iPhone, the new lineup failed to refresh the 4-inch iPhone, meaning if you want the latest iPhone, there's no choice but to go bigger.

Of course, those who are a fan of smaller phones can still pick up an iPhone 5S for only $99, but what happens next year? The late Steve Jobs famously said, "No one is going to buy a big phone," yet this departure seems motivated by only one thing: money. 

What is the battery life on the Apple Watch? Apple was suspiciously silent about the battery life on its new wearable during the presentation, and previous reports have indicated Apple was aiming for a multiple-day charging cycle but that the company was running into issues.

A recent report from Re/code, however, says the Apple Watch's battery will last "about a day," though that could improve by the time the watch launches next year.

Why does the iPhone 6 camera protrude out from the device like a sore thumb? The iPhone 6 is the first iPhone that won't sit flat on a desk, and that is due to the iSight camera, which protrudes outward from the back of the phone. Apple could have made the iPhone 6 a hair thicker (and maybe do the same to the battery), but it didn't.

While some speculated that a protruding lens could be used for attachment accessories, somehow it's tough to imagine Apple shedding its past simply to offer more accessories. 

What about that whole iCloud leak thing? Apple CEO Tim Cook did respond a few days before the iPhone 6 announcement, promising to increase iCloud's security features, but the whole incident wasn't mentioned during the keynote.

Of course, reminding people of a blunder probably isn't the best way to persuade people to move on, but it's interesting that Apple didn't at least attempt to soothe people who are wary with some new safeguards.

What is the killer feature of the Apple Watch that will persuade someone who doesn't wear a watch to buy it? Tim Cook has been highly critical of past attempts by competitors to create a compelling smartwatch, but this hardly looks different from other smartwatches. Sure, it's well crafted, and the attention to detail is top notch, but it's still essentially a thick, square screen strapped to your wrist.

Like the iPad, the answer could lie with the overall experience of the Apple Watch itself, and Real Touch messaging could turn out to be the killer app, but let's take a look at a few crucial details we do know.

• The battery life is currently worse than other smartwatches out there
• It can't be used without an iPhone nearby

In an interview last year, Tim Cook indeed set the bar high for an Apple wearable. "For something to work here, you first have to convince people it's so incredible that they want to wear it," Cook said.

"If we had a room full of 10- to 20-year-olds, and we said, 'Everyone stand up that has a watch on,' I'm not sure anyone would stand up," Cook said, pausing a moment before taking an iPhone out of his pocket. "I don't see it. Their watch is this."

So, what exactly will be the convincing factor of the Apple Watch?

The answer probably lies in Apple's ecosystem and impressive influence in the industry.

Sure, the Apple Watch probably looked a little uglier than most people imagined, but Apple has the power to get developers involved, developers who could potentially create some of those unique and compelling experiences that would convince a 13-year-old with an iPhone that he needs a watch, too.

Apple will continue to innovate, but perhaps at a slower pace than we expected under the leadership of Steve Jobs.

That's why, even with some looming questions left in the air, Apple will most likely sell more iPhones than ever, and the Apple Watch is probably going to sell well, too.

But that doesn't mean we can't expect more.

SEE ALSO: 'Real Touch' Messaging On The Apple Watch Is Like A More Intimate Snapchat For Your Wrist

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Most of the headlines generated by the hackers who broke into the Apple iCloud accounts of 101 celebrities have revolved around the trove of naked photos they found stored on people's iPhone backup facility.

But this story published late yesterday by Ars Technica is essential reading for anyone who cares about the privacy and security of iPhone users.

Basically, author Sean Gallagher bought two pieces of commercially available software that the iCloud hackers are thought to have used: Elcomsoft's  iOS Forensic Toolkit (EIFT) and Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker (EPPB). He then spent some time trying to hack his way into the phones of various family members.

What Gallagher found ought to terrify anyone who either doesn't understand how iCloud works, or who hasn't activated all the security features of iCloud (which is to say, a huge portion of all iCloud users).

Once you have hacked into an iCloud account, the Elcomsoft tools let you download a full backup of the account's owner. You basically get complete access to everything on their phone. The Ars Technica report confirms an earlier one we covered noting that hackers probably now have copies of Kate Upton's entire phone.

Worse, you get access to all the stuff that used to be on the phone but the user thought was deleted. That confirms an earlier post on Business Insider explaining that celebs probably were not storing naked selfies on their phones or in iCloud — because they mistakenly believed they were deleted.

Here is what he found on the iCloud backups he hacked:

• Phone call history
• Text messages
• Voicemail message data (numbers and times) "dating back to the phone's original purchase. So much for deleting call history."
• Addresses for e-mail and texts, plus phone numbers and Facebook contacts.
• All the e-mail and Twitter accounts ever held by the phone's owner. "Some details synced over from accounts closed before the target phone was purchased." (Emphasis added.)
• Every wifi hotspot the phone has ever connected to.
• Long-deleted photos. (This may explain why so many celebrities had nudes in their iCloud — they believed they had deleted them but iCloud keeps a copy.)
• Addresses searched for in Apple Maps.

What happens is that the Elcomsoft package lets hackers get a virtually complete copy of the users' phone in addition to a virtually complete copy of all the material Apple uses to backup and restore the phone — which means a ton of data and media that might have been "deleted" by the user but was in fact being held for backup/restore purposes, just in case.

The material then lets those same hackers stalk their targets in real time, Gallagher says:

Even creepier, the iCloud access also gives the attacker the ability to stalk the victim in real-time by using the Find My iPhone feature. If the phone is turned on and Find My iPhone was configured, the attacker can use the feature just as the owner would (of course, odds are that it’s on the owner’s person). We were able to identify the location of family members in this way as soon as the target phone was turned on.

This would imply that anyone who believes their iCloud has been hacked ought to delete their backups, create a new password, and gain access to it again.

SEE ALSO: How To Switch Off iCloud So Hackers Can't Find Your Naked Photos

SEE ALSO: On The Eve Of What Was Supposed To Be Tim Cook's Greatest Triumph, Apple Is In Disarray

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Apple has activated two-factor authentication for iCloud, according to a MacRumors report.

The Apple cloud storage service has come under fire since a hacking ring leaked a number of celebrity nude photos online that were stored on iCloud.

Two-factor authentication is a security feature designed better verify your identity and protect your data.

It works by sending a message with a code to your smartphone (or whatever device you select) when you log into your iCloud account from a new device. That way your account can't be hacked (unless that person has your selected device, too).

You can learn how to set up two-factor authentication for iCloud right here.

Apple users already had two-factor authentication on iTunes, which helped protect purchases made in iTunes and the App Store. (Games, apps, movies, music, etc.) But two-factor authentication didn't work with iCloud, which stores messages, photos, emails, and other personal data, until now. After the scandal, Apple CEO Tim Cook promised changes to Apple's security features. Today, Apple delivered.

It's important to note that two-factor isn't automatically set up for iCloud. You have to log in and enable it first.

Apple is asking some users to wait about three days between setting up two-factor and it actually working on your iCloud. That usually happens if you try to set up a new password for your Apple account when you try to enable two-factor authentication.

Two-factor authentication is an easy way to better protect yourself from hackers and thieves, but it's not perfect. Several other major tech companies have the security feature, including Google, which lets you use it to help protect Gmail, Google Drive, and other services.

SEE ALSO: PayPal Uses Apple's Nude Selfie Scandal To Take A Shot At Apple Pay

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PayPal began attacking Apple Pay on social media on Monday, and an early investor in the payment platform is firing back.

PayPal's ad is pointed. The "safer than our selfies" bit is a direct reference to the recent iCloud hacking scandal.

Keith Rabois — a member of the so-called "PayPal Mafia" — took to Twitter to shame PayPal over its new ads:

The Quick Quiz continued:

 By this point the "tweetstorm" was in full effect:

Rabois decried PayPal's scare tactics:

He's essentially saying that PayPal attacking Apple Pay is like the pot calling the kettle black:

To illustrate Rabois' point with a topical example:

And a final nail-in-the-coffin remark about eBay, PayPal's parent company:

Rabois also suggested that Visa should consider disabling PayPal transactions in light of the ads.

Talk about passion, though. 

SEE ALSO: iCloud Now Has The Important Security Feature Apple Promised Would Help Protect Your Data

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One of the new features we can't wait to try in iOS 8 is iCloud Drive, which will allow you to access all of your documents, files, and photos from any Apple device, be it an iPhone/iPad or Mac.

But Apple is warning users who upgrade to iOS 8 right away not to upgrade to iCloud Drive immediately, as noted by several iPhone note-taking app including Day One.

iCloud Drive requires iOS 8 on all devices, and it requires the next Mac operating system, OS X Yosemite — but Yosemite won't be available until October.

Note Apple's warning on the upgrade screen below, as annotated by Day One:  "You will not be able to access the documents currently stored in iCloud on your other devices until they are also upgraded to iOS 8 or OS X Yosemite."

9to5Mac found similar warnings from other app developers, like Ginger Labs makers of Notability, and Realmac Software, makers of the Clear app for organizing your various to-dos.

In other words, if you are using an app that syncs notes and documents between your iOS devices and your Mac, DO NOT upgrade to iCloud Drive until Yosemite. 

You also shouldn't upgrade if you want to continue syncing data between iOS 8 devices and iOS 7 devices.

SEE ALSO: New iOS 8 Apps Will Work 'Like Magic,' Software Tester Says

SEE ALSO: Here's How Upgrading To iOS 8 Could Mess Up Some Of Your Apps

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On Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook published a letter on Apple's website detailing Apple's commitment to user privacy following the iCloud hacking scandal.

"A few years ago, users of Internet services began to realize that when an online service is free, you’re not the customer," said Cook. "You’re the product. But at Apple, we believe a great customer experience shouldn’t come at the expense of your privacy."

Cook is referring to companies like Google and Facebook that collect data for targeted advertising. He recently told PBS News' Charlie Rose he was "offended" by tech companies collecting personal information about their users.

Apple revised its privacy policy alongside the rollout of iOS 8, its latest mobile operating system that launched Wednesday.

The letter was part of a new website from Apple that explains in greater detail how users can protect their privacy in light of the recent hacking of nude celebrity photos from iCloud accounts. One of the biggest criticisms following the hacks was that Apple hasn't done a good job communicating to its customers how they can protect their privacy.

The new site seems to be a step to fix that.

Cook also addressed the company's compliance with government programs revealed by Edward Snowden.

"Finally, I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services," he wrote. "We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will."

Here's the full letter from Cook:

At Apple, your trust means everything to us. That’s why we respect your privacy and protect it with strong encryption, plus strict policies that govern how all data is handled.

Security and privacy are fundamental to the design of all our hardware, software, and services, including iCloud and new services like Apple Pay. And we continue to make improvements. Two-step verification, which we encourage all our customers to use, in addition to protecting your Apple ID account information, now also protects all of the data you store and keep up to date with iCloud.

We believe in telling you up front exactly what’s going to happen to your personal information and asking for your permission before you share it with us. And if you change your mind later, we make it easy to stop sharing with us. Every Apple product is designed around those principles. When we do ask to use your data, it’s to provide you with a better user experience.

We’re publishing this website to explain how we handle your personal information, what we do and don’t collect, and why. We’re going to make sure you get updates here about privacy at Apple at least once a year and whenever there are significant changes to our policies.

A few years ago, users of Internet services began to realize that when an online service is free, you’re not the customer. You’re the product. But at Apple, we believe a great customer experience shouldn’t come at the expense of your privacy.

Our business model is very straightforward: We sell great products. We don’t build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don’t “monetize” the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don’t read your email or your messages to get information to market to you. Our software and services are designed to make our devices better. Plain and simple.

One very small part of our business does serve advertisers, and that’s iAd. We built an advertising network because some app developers depend on that business model, and we want to support them as well as a free iTunes Radio service. iAd sticks to the same privacy policy that applies to every other Apple product. It doesn’t get data from Health and HomeKit, Maps, Siri, iMessage, your call history, or any iCloud service like Contacts or Mail, and you can always just opt out altogether.

Finally, I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will.

Our commitment to protecting your privacy comes from a deep respect for our customers. We know that your trust doesn’t come easy. That’s why we have and always will work as hard as we can to earn and keep it.

Tim

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A 4chan user has created an ominous countdown site that hints at the release of leaked naked photographs of the actress Emma Watson in just over four days. 

"Emma You Are Next" features a photograph of Emma Watson wiping away a tear, as well as a countdown timer, the 4chan logo, and a message that reads "Never forget, the biggest to come thus far."

It is never explicitly stated what the site is counting down to, but it follows a wave of new leaked photographs posted on 4chan of Jennifer Lawrence, Rihanna, and other stars who were included on the original list of celebrities affected by the iCloud hack.

However, while it's not outlandish to claim that Emma Watson may have fallen victim to the same iCloud security exploit that has affected other female celebrities, it's likely that the countdown site is nothing more than a prank designed to increase the notoriety of anonymous message board 4chan.

4chan is a notorious online messageboard and was blamed for the original set of leaked iCloud photos. The site's anonymous users often launch pranks and hoaxes to laugh at other internet users and also to further worsen the site's reputation. In the past, 4chan users have tried to persuade people to microwave their iPhones, break their Xbox consoles, #EndFathersDay, and self-harm for Justin Bieber.

Fake countdown sites are a classic tactic for internet pranksters. In 2013, a prankster created a countdown site promising to reveal a message from Brian, the dog who died in the TV show Family Guy. 20th Century Fox denied that the site was authentic. Again in 2013, a cryptic site was revealed that seemed to hint at a new game in the blockbuster "Fallout" series. The site's creator eventually owned up to the prank, remarking "I'm a douche," after thousands of internet users investigated the countdown's origins.

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SEE ALSO: New Nude Photos Of Jennifer Lawrence Appear On Reddit After Another Round Of Hacking

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A mysterious countdown website emerged on Monday that hinted at the imminent reveal of naked photographs of the actress Emma Watson, stolen using the same iCloud vulnerability that hackers used to steal photographs of stars like Kate Upton and Jennifer Lawrence. 

As Business Insider reported on Monday, it's highly unlikely that anyone has naked photographs of Emma Watson (we probably would have seen them by now, because she's a top target for iCloud hackers). Instead the site seemed like an obvious prank designed to discredit 4chan users. 

Sure enough, when the countdown came to an end, the site redirected to the website of a company named Rantic Marketing, which appears to be a viral marketing agency. But here's where this gets really interesting: Rantic Marketing doesn't exist. This wasn't a marketing stunt at all, but a social experiment run by the most notorious gang of pranksters on the internet.

Visitors to the homepage of fake company Rantic Marketing are met with a striking message calling on the US government to shut down anonymous message board 4chan, the site widely blamed for spreading the leaked celebrity photographs that emerged after the iCloud hack. 

The smartly designed website goes on to plead with readers to join them in shutting down 4chan, stating that "together we can make a change." Rantic Marketing's website also features a strongly worded open letter, addressing President Barack Obama, that claims the company was hired by celebrity publicists in an effort to limit the damage caused by the iCloud photo leak.

What news sites around the world have failed to realize is that Rantic Marketing itself is yet another viral stunt. The rantic.com website is another prank, just like the fake Emma Watson countdown timer fooled the internet. One obvious clue can be found at the bottom of the open letter to Obama. In the description of the company that follows the impassioned plea, the CEO is named "Brad Cockingham." 

Rantic Marketing is a fake company run by a gang of prolific internet spammers used to quickly capitalize on internet trends for page views. The group goes by a variety of different names. Collectively, they're known as SocialVEVO, but as the Daily Dot reports, their names are alleged to include Jacob Povolotski, Yasha Swag, Swenzy, and Joey B. The only known video footage of the group is a rap song about pickles that they used dubious spam techniques to make incredibly popular. The song used to have more than eight million views on YouTube.

Previously, Rantic Marketing was the source of rumors that the video game Grand Theft Auto V's release for the PC had been canceled. The fake company then changed its website to make it seem it had been hacked by 4chan. There's no evidence to suggest that 4chan ever hacked the Rantic Marketing website, and instead it appears that the fake company modified the site itself for publicity.

Another "victory" for the internet hoax squad was a fake countdown site that promised to reveal a message from Brian, the cartoon dog who died on the TV show Family Guy. The countdown site went live in December 2013, just as the show ran a plot line that temporarily killed off the character. Distraught fans, anxious to hear about the fate of the beloved character, fell for the countdown.

So how does a fake marketing company manage to fool the internet so consistently? It's all thanks to its secret weapon: Fox Weekly. Don't worry if you've never heard of that particular Fox vertical, because it's not real. As the Daily Dot reported back in May, Fox Weekly is a fake news site that the internet pranksters use to steal articles and share stories about their fake sites. 

The fake Emma Watson countdown site was first written about by, you guessed it, the fake news site Fox Weekly. In a now-deleted article, the site asks whether 4chan hackers are about to reveal naked photographs of the actress. Of course, the author of that article knew at the time that there weren't any photographs, because they had also created the countdown site itself.

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SEE ALSO: 4chan Hackers Are Threatening To Post Naked Photographs Of Emma Watson

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Apple may have known about a vulnerability in iCloud about six months before the recent hacking scandal in which dozens of explicit celebrity photos were leaked, according to The Daily Dot.

The publication reportedly obtained emails between Apple and a security researcher that informed the company of a security hole back in March.

The security researcher, Ibrahim Balic, reportedly told Apple that he found a way to infiltrate iCloud accounts.

Balic said the vulnerability he reported to Apple seems very similar to the one that was believed to have been used by the hackers that ripped racy photos from celebrities iCloud accounts in early September, The Daily Dot reports. It still remains unclear, however, if the two vulnerabilities are the same or separate.

In one email, Balic warned Apple that iCloud seemed to be vulnerable to a technique known as "brute-force," which is when an intruder attempts to guess passwords by trying thousands of difference character combinations. These attacks are usually hard to pull off since most systems lock you out after a certain number of failed password attempts.

Here's a copy of that email published by The Daily Dot:

Balic told Apple he was able to try more than 20,000 password combinations.

In a separate email from May 2014, the issue seemed to be unfixed since Apple continued to question Balic about his methods.

After this month's iCloud incident, in which private photos from celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence, "The Big Bang Theory" actress Kaley Cuoco, and Kate Upton among other were leaked, Apple said it had made efforts to boost security. For example, the company expanded its two-step verification system to iCloud, and CEO Tim Cook published a letter detailing the company's commitment to user privacy.

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George Clooney's wedding to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin was the celebrity story of the weekend. Their no-expense-spared nuptials in Venice were the very image of a dream wedding, but what many people don't know is the careful planning that went into keeping their wedding safe from hackers and tabloid journalists.

It has been reported that Clooney gave every guest at his wedding a "burner" phone. A burner phone has a single purpose, and is intended to be discarded after use. These phones came with special codes that served as both a ticket into the wedding events, as well as a deterrent for guests wishing to leak photos. 

The Sunday Telegraph claims to have obtained part of the document sent to Clooney's wedding guests, which instructs them on the smartphone security protocols: 

The phones you've been given have a code. That is your ticket to everything. We will be taking lots of pictures...but we have to work very hard to keep our pictures our pictures. 

Additionally, TMZ reports that guests were banned from bringing their own phones to the festivities, instead they had to leave them in their hotel rooms or hand them in at special kiosks outside the events.

So why the high security? Apparently Clooney was protecting against two things: iCloud hackers and leaked photos. 

According to TMZ, "guests were all told the reason for the security measures was because of all the hackers who have been in the news recently."

The hackers behind the recent leaked celebrity photos used vulnerabilities in Apple's password recovery system to gain access to iCloud accounts. If guests at Clooney's wedding used their personal iPhones to photograph the event, then there's a chance that hackers who already had access to the phones could gain valuable photos before the press.

American Vogue has exclusive rights to photograph of Clooney's wedding, in return for a donation to a charity of his choice. The burner phones meant that wedding guests couldn't sell on photos to rival publications, as the code system means that Clooney would be able to tell exactly who each photograph came from.

It's not unusual for guests attending celebrity parties to have their social media use restricted. In 2013, TMZ obtained a copy of one of Justin Bieber's "party contracts" that guests have to sign before even meeting the star. The document made it clear that publishing any details or photos of the party could result in a $3 million fine.

I shall not, without your prior written consent in each instance, publish, directly or indirectly, or cause or induce the publication to a third party, of any Confidential Information including, without limitation, texting, "tweeting," giving any interviews, making statements to the press, or writing, preparing or assisting in the preparation of any books, articles, programs, press releases, or any other oral or written communications.

SEE ALSO: George Clooney To Direct Movie On British Phone-Hacking Scandal

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iCloud, Apple's consumer cloud storage platform, was down for some people, but now everything seems to be up and running again, according to the company's support page. Here's what it looked like:

But now all those red triangles are green, which means everything is running like it's supposed to. Apple's support page indicated this service outage went on for at least an hour, but it only affected some people.

It's unclear what caused the outage, or how many people were affected.

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Soon after the iCloud celebrity photo leak, Apple unveiled a new security system designed to protect users from hackers who gain access to accounts by exploiting the company's password recovery system and downloading your backup files.

But hackers have already found ways around this improved security, and they have returned to a public forum to continue sharing them.

Apple hasn't overhauled the iForgot password system, which can still be used by hackers to download your iPhone photographs stored on iCloud. Instead, Tim Cook announced that Apple will now send notifications when someone tries to change an account password, access iCloud backups, or when someone logs into an account from a new device for the first time.

Here's one of the emails that Apple sends out to users to let them know that someone has logged into their iCloud account:

There is a small number of iCloud hackers still posting on the porn forum "AnonIB," the site where the celebrity photo leaks first emerged. They note that the only real change that Apple made was expanding the notification system to cover iCloud backups. Apple claims that this alerts users quickly if hackers are in their account, but it doesn't prevent iCloud hackers gaining access. 

Most of the people targeted by iCloud hackers are young females, often in their teenage years. They're unlikely to regularly check their emails (teens don't check email the way adults do), and so Apple's tactic of notifying people as soon as possible when an account is accessed is not as effective in this demographic. iCloud hackers may have gained access to an account using weak security questions and downloaded an encrypted backup file before the target even realizes that anything has happened. 

But what if a hacker wants to hack an iCloud account without notifying the target? iCloud hackers have found a way to do that, too. They suggest entering the target's email account before attempting to hack the iCloud account. Since most targets are teenage girls who don't check their email often, the premise is that their passwords will be easy to guess ("password" is frequently found to be one of the most commonly used passwords). Once inside the email inbox, hackers mark emails from Apple as spam, which they claim sends Apple's new iCloud security notifications straight to spam also.  

For iCloud hackers, Apple's new security only means that their targets have an extra email in their inbox. Some posters on AnonIB report that there's even a delay in the emails that they can use to quickly raid the account for photos.

Once iCloud hackers have gained access to an account, they then set about decrypting the iCloud backup file and searching it for photos. As Business Insider reported last month, hackers use expensive specialist software intended for law enforcement to download and access iCloud backup files.

And now there's a new tool that hackers are using to steal photos from women on the internet. iLoot is an open-source and completely free tool developed by security researcher Alexey Troshichev, who is known for discovering a bug in the Find My iPhone software. Troshichev's company, Hack App, released a tool, iBrute, to exploit the flaw shortly before the celebrity photo leaks. (That led to multiple reports falsely claiming that his discovery was used to hack celebrities.)

iLoot is publicly available on GitHub, unlike previous programs used by hackers, which were sold online. Released in September, hackers are turning to iLoot to help them break into iCloud accounts. iLoot is a "command line interface," meaning that it gives hackers access to software by letting them punch in lines of code commands to manipulate it.

Here's what the tool looks like when in use:

Hack App's Github page says the tool should not be used on copyrighted material. And the iLoot program's page on GitHub includes a warning not to use the software to hack into accounts: "This tool is for educational purposes only. Before you start, make sure it's not illegal in your country."

SEE ALSO: The Full Story Of The iCloud Hacker Who Leaked Those Naked Celebrity Photos

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