William and Kate’s phone numbers at mercy of data thieves as man, 35, arrested over Pippa iCloud hack
Scotland Yard confirm Northamptonshire man taken in for questioning
WILLIAM and Kate’s phone numbers will now be in the hands of hackers who plundered Pippa Middleton’s phone, it was claimed yesterday.
Palace security officials were believed to be racing to protect senior royals as cops arrested a man of 35 under the Computer Misuse Act.
The swoop in Northamptonshire came after a thief demanded £50,000 from The Sun for photos and data stolen from Kate’s sister Pippa’s iCloud account.
Experts warned last night that senior royals and wealthy socialites in her circle are also at risk of being hacked.
Oliver Crofton, of cyber intelligence company Marclay Associates, said: “Most iPhone users choose to back up on the iCloud.
“If Pippa has, the hacker will almost certainly have all her contacts, which you would presume include Kate and other senior royals. I’m sure steps are being taken to alert and protect everyone in Pippa’s contact book right now.”
related stories
We revealed yesterday that a cyber thief calling himself the “Crafty Cockney” demanded via the encrypted WhatsApp message service “a minimum of £50,000” for Pippa’s images and data.
He claimed to have photos of Pippa, 33, including one in a wedding dress, plus naked snaps of fiance James Matthews, 41. Private pics of Kate and Wills with their kids George and Charlotte were also apparently in his possession.
The Sun had no intention of doing a deal and alerted Pippa.
The thief surfaced again yesterday, saying: “Now it’s leaked everywhere I’m getting hit like mad.”
He promised to send more pictures until he saw yesterday’s Sun. His last message read: “I just read your article . . . you f***ed yourself.”
Celebs including actress Jennifer Lawrence and Harry Potter star Emma Watson have had naked photos splashed on the web after their iCloud accounts were compromised.
London-based Mr Crofton said it was “a huge criminal industry”, with wealthy victims regularly enlisting his help.
He said: “This is becoming a huge problem, especially for celebrities. Once they had Pippa’s date of birth, mother’s maiden name and answers to common security questions, they could have hacked into her iCloud in seconds.
“Sophisticated hackers can plant bugs in phones and computers by sending a message, which appears to be from a friend, asking them to look at a picture.
“Once that is in place, they can watch them keying in passwords.”
The Met said: “A 35-year-old man was arrested at an address in Northamptonshire on suspicion of a Computer Misuse Act offence and is being taken into custody at south London police station.”
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368
