Apple plans to increase the security of its iCloud service after a massive leak of adult photos were discovered by hackers.

Celebrities photos appeared online recently showing popular movie stars and singers in the nude. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company was not lax on their security issues and the celebrities' accounts were hacked due to phishing attacks or because of password reminder questions being solved by hackers.

Cook says that the passwords that were stolen were not leaked from Apple's servers.

Apple will start alerting iCloud customers when a password is changed or when a password is attempted to be changed. They will receive e-mails and/or push notifications.

This will not happen right away. Apple plans to start sending these notifications in about two weeks.

Once the new notification system is in place, users will be notified and allowed to take action right away by changing their password or alerting Apple's security team.

Cook admits that Apple should have made people more aware of the dangers of hacking and tried to educate them a little more.

"When I step back from this terrible scenario that happened and say what more could we have done, I think about the awareness piece," he said. "I think we have a responsibility to ratchet that up. That's not really an engineering thing." 

Cook mentioned the new Touch ID that has been added to the iPhone 5S and will likely be included in Apple's next offering. He says this is another layer of security for iPhone users.

He also said that Apple plans to add more security questions or tasks in order to unlock certain features or capabilities on a phone. For instance instead of just one password, a password and a fingerprint might be required. Or, a fingerprint and a four digit PIN number.

Apple says that most users don't use the two or more security features to unlock their phones so they are vulnerable. With the next iOS due out this fall, Apple is encouraging customers to secure their phone with multiple layers of security including Touch ID.

Security experts blame Apple for making it too easy to hack into their system. Apple only requires answers to two security questions to unlock a forgotten password and that's likely what happened with many of the celebrities' iCloud accounts.

"There's a well-understood tension between usability and security," said Ashkan Soltani, an independent security researcher who has worked with The Wall Street Journal in the past. "More often than not, Apple chooses to err on the side of usability to make it easier for the user that gets locked out from their kid's baby photos than to employ strong protections for the high-risk individuals." 

The hackers have not been caught yet and Apple is working with authorities to investigate.

"We want to do everything we can do to protect our customers, because we are as outraged if not more so than they are," said Mr. Cook. 

What do you think of this hacking scheme? Do you think Apple should do more to make their phones and devices more secure? Leave us a note in the comments section.