Due to the recent privacy breaches and illegal distribution of private content of some of the biggest female names in Hollywood film industry today, a lot of attention has been turned towards ensuring iCloud accounts remains safe from illegal attacks.

What Kate Upton and Jennifer Lawrence went through is regrettable but it does not have to be so with your account.

Apple iCloud

Apple iCloud is a cloud service introduced by Apple in 2011 to offer a wireless free backup service for all its device users.Any person who has an iCloud account activated is able to access documents, images and files already stored within the cloud on various devices through an Apple ID.

Files and images saved in the cloud are outside an iPhone or any other Apple device you are using; controlling access to the files is not very easy. While no one is free from such attacks there are a number of things you can do to remain safe.

If you have not had a look at your iCloud account in the last couple of weeks or months, perhaps it is the right time, including any other web storage facility you are using.

Seek information

One of the best ways to remain at the top of your privacy and to remain safe is staying informed as much as possible. For example, if you have not heard about the leaking of private images of Jennifer Lawrence and other actresses you might not be keen about keeping your account safe and secure.

While the real cause of what happened is still an enigma, it is understood the app known as Find My iPhone had a security breached and gave hackers a chance to keep on using passwords one after the other towards accessing iCloud accounts of various celebrities.

Clearly, hackers found a loophole and exhausted it but it is also clear most of the passwords that could be breached were not as strong and secure as many perhaps thought. A hacker needs the email used to sign up to any Apple ID to begin trying out or guessing passwords to access any account. Remain informed so that you can keep changing your passwords, even your email if you have to.

Delete files from iCloud

If you do not know, Apple always backs up data automatically within the cloud. It is possible to delete or remove your documents, videos, files and even photos.

On your Apple device, go to Settings-iCloud-Storage and Backup-Manage Storage and choose all the data you would like to delete from what you find in the Documents and Data section.

Two-step iCloud verification

With two-step iCloud verification, you would have added an additional security feature to look after your iOS device’s Apple ID. The verification is made to halt anyone from just accessing your account or using it as he or she wants, whether they have your password or not.

After the two step verification has been set, continue to register all the devices that you trust and would like them to receive through Find My iPhone or SMS a 4 digit verification code. The minimum requirement is a phone number capable of receiving an SMS.

This means that to enter your Apple ID account you will have to add the four digit code sent to you, including your password, to be allowed to carry out any transaction on iBooks, App Store and even iTunes.