Hacking of nude celebrity photos on iCloud a threat to Apple

With Apple expected to unveil its new generation of iPhones next week, the tech firm is on a quest to turn your smartphone into a universal remote control for your life. Want to open your garage door, set your thermostat or look over the stats for your weekly workout? Your iPhone, Apple says, will be able to handle it.

But just as the company wants consumers to let their smartphones run more aspects of their lives, Apple is doing damage control.

It has often displayed uncanny timing, with its well-orchestrated end-of-year iPhone releases. But the leak of racy celebrity photos in the past few days put the company in the unusual position of having to mend its image just days before a highly anticipated product launch next Tuesday.

Nude photos of Hollywood celebrities, including Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, posted on internet forums by unknown hackers have drawn condemnation from stars and their publicists, and prompted an investigation by the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In the wake of the breach, cybersecurity experts and mobile developers have pointed to inadequacies in the security of Apple's and others' cloud services. Thousands have taken to Twitter to express their frustrations with the company.

The incident has raised new questions about how much users can trust their most sensitive data not just with Apple but other companies as well. Security experts said that companies were routinely rolling out new features and products without firming up the security of the data consumers were giving up in exchange.