American actress Bella Thorne has taken a leaf out of Radiohead’s book, and rather than be intimidated by a hacker threatening to release stolen content – posted it up on the internet herself for anyone to access.
Problems started for Thorne when her Twitter account was hijacked on Thursday, and a number of racist tweets posted to her 6.6 million followers.
That wasn’t the end of 21-year-old Thorne’s headaches, however, as she was contacted by someone claiming to have stolen intimate images of the actress.
Thorne’s response? To publish the topless images herself on her Twitter account this weekend, alongside screenshots of messages she had received from the alleged hacker.
The screenshots include an unredacted phone number with a central Indiana area code which may or may not belong to the alleged hacker.
In a statement posted on her Twitter account, Thorne doesn’t mince her words about how angry the hacker’s actions have made her:
Yesterday as u all know all my shit was hacked For the last 24 hours I have been threatened with my own nudes I feel gross, I feel watched, I feel someone has taken something from me that I only wanted one special person to see, He has sent me multiple nude photos of other celebs, he won’t stop with me or them he will just keep going,
For too long I let a man take advantage of me over and over and I’m fucking sick of it, I’m putting this out because it’s MY DECISION NOW U DONT GET TO TAKE YET ANOTHER THING FROM ME.
I can sleep tonight better knowing I took my power back. U can’t control my life u never will.
Here’s the photos he’s been threatening me with, in other words here’s my boobies.
So here fuck u, and the last 24 hours I have been crying instead of celebrating my book while doing my book press. Oh yea, the fbi will be at your house shortly, so watch. Your. Mother. Fuckin. Back.
In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, Thorne – while still angry about what had occurred – generously showed some compassion to whoever had hacked her:
This kid sounds like he’s 17, as much as I’m so angry and wanted to fuck him up over doing this to people I just wanted to teach him a lesson,. He’s still a kid and we make mistakes, this mistake is a bad one. But I don’t want some 17-year-old’s whole life ruined because he wasn’t thinking straight and being a dumbass.
What isn’t clear is how Bella Thorne was hacked.
Was she using an easy-to-guess password? Was her password stolen through a phishing attack or keylogging malware? Was she – as so many people do – re-using the same password on multiple online accounts? Did she have two-factor authentication (2FA) in place to harden her online security? If she did have 2FA in place was it SMS-based (making it vulnerable to SIM swap attacks)? Does she have anyone in her entourage who has access to her online accounts and may not be taking security seriously enough?
Lots of questions, and no clear answers. But I hope that Bella Thorne is taking the time to look into what occurred and putting measures in place to make it far less likely that hackers will succeed in future.
Where are these idiots RESPONSIBLE for anything themselves for CAUSING a potential problem? People are fools to trust the net even with the best passwords. None of these DIY porn actresses are very bright, are they? I mean, they have a hot bod but that isn't good enough for them to share when they are with their lover. No, they have to take nasty photos and swap them with their f buddy. Because you can trust them. And because you are such a horndog, keep them on your phone or in the cloudz because you never know when you'll have an itch to scratch. Look at me, LOOK AT ME! I feel absolutely zero sympathy for these actors. Don't ever do something in private and then take it out into the real world in ANY form at all. They are getting what they deserve for being a stupid, self-worshipping chump. What's next? Documenting bathroom stuff? Next!
The amount of bitterness in your comment is astounding, mate. It actually saddens me just how low people can go with saying people deserve to be wronged. You don't know the full story of this person or anyone else even those you believe you do know the full story [of].
Not being responsible does not equate to bering an idiot; on the contrary people of low intelligence can still be very responsible. And kind and loving too. And feel compassion and Pity, something you could learn to do. The dictionary would tell you this (That idiot != irresponsible) for starters but I imagine that won't get to you either. And the fact she posted nude pictures of herself for all to see says she actually does understand 'responsibility'. Because you see by doing that she's taken control of the situation. See how that works? But you….
Judgemental certainly. Whether there really is bitterness is hard to parse for sure but it does strongly feel like it. And even if you believe there isn't that doesn't equate to 'reality': those who are bitter very often do not even realise just how bitter they are. And how do you know it's her 'f buddy' (as you euphemistically put it)? That's judgemental and sounds rather like shaming her for being sexual (which is a disgrace that society does this and it's one of the things that makes it seem like bitterness on your part – for men who have been rejected do tend to do this exactly). I rather got the impression it was her boyfriend. And incidentally many many women do exactly that. Could it be that no woman has ever done it for you that you're so critical of a woman doing that? Or maybe they've never asked you to do it for them? You see she said it was for someone who was special not just anyone. You don't feel any sympathy for people suffering – even someone who was doing something special for someone they seemingly loved? Well that would indeed be reason enough that women wouldn't feel comfortable or safe with you. We all however make mistakes – and she even acknowledges it – and that includes you. She's also rather young, seemingly, but even if she was 40 the fact remains what I said about women is true. And women also ask their boyfriends for nude pictures. Just because you seem to not appreciate that doesn't make it not so. Just because you wouldn't (supposedly – or for now at least?) doesn't mean you're right and they're wrong. It makes you different. Nothing else. Yet they're self-worshipping….
A Pity, really. Either way your comment is if nothing else extremely unattractive and any woman who read it would agree with me there.
…'being' also…
…and somehow I suspect you actually looked. If so it is more evidence to my thinking. If nothing else it's hypocritical of you and it shows character fault. But then again so does your entire comment, really.