The author seems to be assuming that any files on an iPhone were generated originally by that iPhone. This obviously isn't the case, as I send stuff to Android users, iPhone users, even WinMo users. And thus, photos from an Android show up on an iPhone and, depending on the software used, are then backed up to iCloud.
Another assumption is that it was the celebrity's account and only that account that was compromised in every case. It could have been JLaw's (ex-)boyfriend's iCloud account that was hacked, surely?
It certainly looks like multiple leakers and multiple sources. There are various "official" bitcoin addresses, connected to different leaked content. Most of it looks pretty amateurish. Probably after the first guy started getting paid for leaked files, a bunch of other script kiddies jumped in.
I'd agree with that - on the press flaming that Apple are getting though - Im just not buying it. Really feels more like a cloud storage hack than iCloud, right?
Some of the leaks do look like iCloud backups though. Videos don't get uploaded to Apple's "photo stream" so it would have to be an iCloud backup or, less likely, a local backup that was uploaded to Dropbox. Right now it "feels like" a lot of different leaks and leakers jumping on 4chan and demanding bitcoins for their own little dumps.
If I go to upload file A.zip to Dropbox, and it already exists in someone else's Dropbox (has a matching hash), does Dropbox bother re-upload the entire thing?
If not, then perhaps there's a way to test if the files came from Dropbox or not.
Another assumption is that it was the celebrity's account and only that account that was compromised in every case. It could have been JLaw's (ex-)boyfriend's iCloud account that was hacked, surely?