"Celebgate" Hacker Sentenced to Eighteen Months
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 10/27/2016 08:40 AM
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The hacker behind the "Celebgate" hack that led to pictures and videos of over 100 online accounts being posted to the internet, including many belonging to celebrities, has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Ryan Collins, 36, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was charged with computer hacking in March. He plead guilty to violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). He was able to breach the accounts after sending out hundreds of phishing emails. The emails were purportedly coming from Google and Apple and were designed to get victims to hand over their passwords and usernames.
Collins was able to hack into 50 iCloud accounts and 72 Gmail accounts, many of which belonged to female celebrities. However, there was no evidence that it was he who posted the pictures and videos online. In addition to the hacking, he also ran a bogus modeling site online and convinced women to send him nude pictures.
Collins was not the only one arrested over the Celebgate breaches. Edward Majerczyk, 28, of Illinois, also used a phishing scam similar to Collins and hacked into over 300 iCloud and Gmail accounts. He faces up to five years in prison.
Source: Security Week
Ryan Collins, 36, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was charged with computer hacking in March. He plead guilty to violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). He was able to breach the accounts after sending out hundreds of phishing emails. The emails were purportedly coming from Google and Apple and were designed to get victims to hand over their passwords and usernames.Collins was able to hack into 50 iCloud accounts and 72 Gmail accounts, many of which belonged to female celebrities. However, there was no evidence that it was he who posted the pictures and videos online. In addition to the hacking, he also ran a bogus modeling site online and convinced women to send him nude pictures.
Collins was not the only one arrested over the Celebgate breaches. Edward Majerczyk, 28, of Illinois, also used a phishing scam similar to Collins and hacked into over 300 iCloud and Gmail accounts. He faces up to five years in prison.
Source: Security Week
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