The archive was created by a group of users who wanted to document and track the spread of the leaked content. The site quickly gained popularity, with thousands of users accessing the site to view and discuss the leaked material.

In the immediate aftermath of the leak, speculation pointed toward a structural vulnerability in Apple's iCloud infrastructure. Early theories suggested hackers used a brute-force script to exploit a flaw in the "Find My iPhone" API, which allowed unlimited password attempts without locking the account.