How did a second celebrity 'leak' happen?

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Kim KardashianImage source, PA

Three weeks ago, Kim Kardashian told Newsbeat that intimate pictures of celebrities being leaked online was "a big wake up call".

The authorities seemed to agree, with the FBI saying it was looking into allegations that the pictures were stolen.

Apple added it was investigating accounts being broken into and expanded "two-step verification" checks.

But how did Kardashian become the centre of a new leak?

Where did the pictures come from?

Image source, APple
Image caption,
It's thought some iCloud accounts were breached during the first leak but other systems and devices have been linked to the second set of images

That's pretty tough to answer.

Despite links to iCloud accounts, there is still no evidence about exactly how the photos were obtained in the first place and it's been claimed that some of the pictures in the new leak were taken from a Blackberry.

The original set of photos, which included images of the actress Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, became available after someone (no-one knows who that person was, but there has been online speculation) posted the pictures to anonymous online message boards 4chan and Reddit.

It's not clear yet where the second set of pictures came from but they were also briefly posted on 4chan and Reddit before being removed, according to reports.

The fact that Kim Kardashian told Newsbeat she doesn't have an iCloud account on her phone also makes it difficult to know how and when the pictures were accessed.

Could it happen for a third time?

Image source, Pastebin.com
Image caption,
A new threat to post more images appeared online following the second leak

Following the first leak, a Reddit user called johnsmcjohn created a subreddit called The Fappening, which became a destination for users wanting to see the pictures.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it gathered thousands of views and now Reddit has shut it down.

On Sunday, a Pastebin.com feed appeared called The Fappening 2 listed the leaks and claimed that more images would be released shortly.

What are the police doing?

Again, a bit of a tricky one.

For obvious reasons, it's difficult to say exactly what steps the FBI took between the two "leaks".

That said, following the original set of pictures appearing online, an FBI spokesman told the Associated Press news agency that it was "aware of the allegations" and was "addressing the matter".

What is Perez Hilton doing?

According to an incredibly apologetic video called Jennifer Lawrence & Us, he's not going to post "intimate photos like that" anymore and he's trying to "think of other ways to make things right".

The 36-year-old said he would "use this as an opportunity to learn from and grow from and make some changes going forward". Well done Perez.

What can you do to stop it happening to you?

Image source, Dropbox
Image caption,
Be aware that services including Dropbox can automatically copy photos to the cloud

In simple terms "choose better passwords".

That's the advice from Oliver Crofton, a founder of Select Technology Concierge that provides secure tech services for the rich and famous.

Speaking to the BBC he added: "From experience with incidents in the past it typically comes down to weak passwords."

"They get into the email addresses associated with that individual and then they intercept a re-set request and log in."

Oliver said at least once a month a Select client will call saying they have had a "strange re-set request" that is probably evidence of an attempt to get at their online life.

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