Kate Upton confirmed that the leaked nude photos of her, which were included in the large-scale hacking incident, are real.

While a representative for the 22-year-old model also verified the authenticity of the said photos, Upton's publicist also stated that their investigations have begun and will continue until hackers are identified and given appropriate punitive action.

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The Sports Illustrated model's lawyer told E! Online that they are looking into various possibilities with regards to one of the largest hacking incidents that have affected numerous Hollywood celebrities.

Upton's legal representative had put forward a similar weigh-in as that of Jennifer Lawrence's lawyer; in particular, Internet users were told to practice caution against publicizing raunchy photos.

"This obviously an outrageous violation of our client Kate Upton's privacy," the model's lawyer said. "We intend to pursue anyone disseminating or duplicating these illegally obtained images to the fullest extent possible."

Currently, the number of genuine photos in the nude images spreading in social networks is unknown. Many of the photos showed Upton with her Detroit Tigers baseball player boyfriend Justin Verlander while the rest appeared to show the model undressed. Some of the photos had been taken by Upton herself as selfies while gazing into a mirror; other nude pictures seemed to be taken by a third party.

A number of reports have stated that the hackers may have looked into and utilized a security-related weakness in Apple's iCloud storage service. The company has already carried out its own investigation, releasing a press statement which stated that the leaks are not a result of a security breach in iCloud.

Apple has made its pledge to carry on their investigation with the authorities and arrest the hacker accountable for the incident. The tech giant has also urged customers to generate strong passwords and make use of the two-step verification process to keep hackers away.

Other celebrities have been victimized in the large-scale photo hacking with which the individual responsible has created a "master list" of the apparent female victims, which allegedly include Hilary Duff, Selena Gomez, Lea Michele and Hayden Panettiere, to name a few.

Aside from Upton, other high-profile celebrities have confirmed that their photos are legitimate, including Jennifer Lawrence and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. On the other hand, actress Victoria Justice and pop singer Ariana Grande questioned the authenticity of their leaked photos. 

TagsKate Upton, Sports Illustrated, iCloud, Jennifer Lawrence