Hacker who stole nude photos of Hollywood stars gets 18 months in prison

The 36-year-old American hacker who was the source of nude photos of hundreds of people, including many Hollywood stars, has been jailed for 18 months. The man managed to gain access to the victims’ mailbox and iCloud storage.

The man was sentenced for violating the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He confessed in May to hacking a single computer. The court found the man responsible for entering the mailbox of his victims.

Between November 2012 and September 2014, he sent phishing emails that appeared to come from Apple or Google, in order to obtain the login names and passwords. Once inside the Apple and Google accounts, he was able to access private photos and videos and, for example, download the entire iCloud storage with special software. He did that with at least 50 iCloud and 72 Gmail accounts.

Investigators were able to determine that he obtained nude photos of more than 600 victims, including many movie stars such as Kate Upton and Jennifer Lawrence. The appearance of these photos caused a stir under the name Celebgate or The Fappening. The researchers have found no evidence that the man was actually responsible for publishing the photos or uploading them on the internet, the American justice system reported.