Celeb phone, email hacks: New front in old battle?

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It may not sound like the usual cyber prank or act of political defiance associated with self-styled hacktivists. But a series of online hacks carried out against Hollywood celebrities has invited the attention of the FBI.

In a terse statement the FBI acknowledged the existence of the probe, adding that it meant to find "the person or groups responsible" for a string of computer intrusions in which hackers stole personal information from email and other computer accounts from dozens of celebrities.

A spokeswoman for the bureau declined to provide further details. However, several websites including TMZ have identified one of the victims as Scarlett Johansson. At least a couple nude photos of the 26-year-old actress have so far surfaced on the Internet. A message left with the actress' spokeswoman was not immediately returned.

Though the FBI has not disclosed names, the BBC has reported that that Johansson, Jessica Alba and Mila Kunis, along with singer Justin Timberlake could have been targeted. Johansson is believed to have contacted the FBI regarding the leaks, and her lawyers have instructed that the sites take down the photos under Digital Millennium Copyright (DMCA) laws.

The LA Times reported that people claiming to be a hacking group claimed responsibility, though their claims could not be verified. The following video was posted on YouTube last month warning that celebrities and the "Jew-controlled media" would be targeted over the following weeks:

Amid the thick of it in London, with ongoing phone and even computer hacking claims against high-profile figures, celebrities and politicians by journalists at the now defunct newspaper News of the World, it is not clear whether journalists or notorious hacktivist group Anonymous are behind the hacks.

Anonymous spin-off?
An Anonymous spin-off has been blamed for the recent hack on the NBC News Twitter stream hack. That  led to a series of false tweets being published, claiming that the Ground Zero site in lower Manhattan was attacked by terrorists, only days before the 10th anniversary commemoration ceremonies.

Notably, the breakaway group known as 'Hollywood Hacks' has previously targeted celebrities including Miley Cyrus, Tom Cruise and Ashley Green. Promising to wreak havoc on celebrities by promising "Hollywood carnage", in some cases privately stored photos were published online.

As the new hackers on the block, it may not come as a surprise should this new group be the focus of the FBI's investigation. The splinter group has posted multiple messages over the past few weeks, mostly to code-repository Pastebin. Included in these posts, details of phone numbers, email addresses and other content, such as voicemails to YouTube and private pictures on photo-sharing sites were published.