Technology News
English Edition

Fake Links to Nude Celebrities Crash New Zealand Internet

By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 8 September 2014 10:43 IST
Fake Links to Nude Celebrities Crash New Zealand Internet
Advertisement
New Zealanders keen to view hacked photos of naked celebrities are being blamed for a nationwide Internet meltdown involving the country's main provider.

It is believed a handful of computer users clicked links on Friday evening believing they would take them to the illicit images, but instead they inadvertently installed malware triggering a crippling Internet attack.

It took telecommunications giant Spark, the rebranded Telecom Corp., until Sunday to fully repair what it termed a "dynamic" cyber-attack that overloaded its system covering more than 600,000 customers.

The intimate celebrity photos, which included actress Jennifer Lawrence and singers Avril Lavigne and Rihanna, were stolen from a cloud storage system.

Spark tweeted it was aware that when people clicked on some links they inadvertently installed malware "generating a high amount of traffic to overseas sites".

Computer security specialists Trend Micro issued an alert shortly before the attack began warning not to open the links related to the nude celebrities.

"For obvious reasons, clicking on links to 'naked celebrity' photos, or opening email attachments would be a very bad idea right now, expect criminals to ride this bandwagon immediately," it said.

"Our scanning brought to our attention some freshly-concocted schemes targeting those looking for the photos borne from the aforementioned leak.

"The first threat we found hails from Twitter, in the form of a tweet being posted with hashtags that contain the name of one of the leak's victims Jennifer Lawrence."

Trend Micro said users who clicked the link offering to show a video of the actress were directed to download a "video converter" that was actually malicious software.

New Zealand authorities said they did not know who was behind the attack, which was launched from outside the country, and the malware was generating denial-of-service attacks towards Europe.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Internet, Jennifer Lawrence, Malware
Microsoft Revamps MSN to Flow Across Devices
WeChat Helps Apple Rack Up Bonus Points in China

Related Stories

Fake Links to Nude Celebrities Crash New Zealand Internet
Comment
Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat LinkedIn Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News

Advertisement

Featured
Follow Us
Latest Videos
More Videos
Tech News in Hindi
More Technology News in Hindi
Popular on Gadgets
Latest Gadgets
Popular Mobile Brands
#Trending Stories
  1. Oppo Find X8 Series With Hasselblad Cameras Launched in India: See Price
  2. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Dummy Units Hint Towards This Big Design Change
  3. Redmi Note 14 5G Series Will Be Launched in India on This Date
  4. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra May Cost More at Launch Than Galaxy S24 Ultra
  5. HMD Fusion India Launch Teased; to Be Available on Amazon
  6. Caviar Launches Custom Apple Vision Pro Model With 24K Gold
  7. iQOO 13 Key Specifications Revealed Ahead of Upcoming Debut
  8. iPhone 17 Slim Design, Price Range, Specifications Revealed in New Leak
#Latest Stories
  1. Five Charged in US for Crypto Hacking Spree Using ‘Scattered Spider’ Method: Details
  2. Disney Bets on Korean and Japanese Originals in Asia Growth Push
  3. iPhone 17 Slim Design, Price Range Leaked; Tipped to Get Single Rear Camera, 24-Megapixel Front Camera
  4. Apple Said to Be in Discussions With Several Indian Firms to Replace Chinese Suppliers
  5. Oppo Find X8 Series to Get Google’s Gemini AI Features, Circle to Search With ColorOS 15 Update
  6. Meta Rolls Out AI-Powered Backgrounds, HD Video Calls and More for Messenger Calling
  7. Google Faces Call from DuckDuckGo for New EU Probes into Tech Rule Compliance
  8. Control Ultimate Edition to Launch on Mac in February, Remedy Confirms
  9. OnePlus Pad Pro Tipped to Be Refreshed With Larger 13-Inch Screen
  10. Caviar Introduces Custom Luxury Apple Vision Pro Model With 24K Gold
Gadgets 360 is available in
Follow Us
Download Our Apps
App Store App Store
Available in Hindi
App Store
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »