Man arrested for ‘celebgate’ nude photo hacks

Authorities have arrested a Pennsylvania man who hacked into the Apple iCloud and Google Gmail accounts of more than 100 people, including celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence.

After his arrest, Ryan Collins, 36, agreed to plead guilty to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, according to the Justice Department. As part of the plea, the parties will recommend a prison term of 18 months, although Collins faces a maximum jail sentence of five years.

{mosads}According to court documents, Collins obtained login credentials for celebrity accounts using common phishing attacks, or fake emails asking for user information such as login credentials.

Collins then used that information to crack into email accounts and iCloud accounts, stealing nude photos and videos, according to prosecutors. Collins also used a software program to download the entire contents of these victims’ iCloud backups.  

“Today, people store important private information in their online accounts and in their digital services,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker said in a statement. “Lawless unauthorized access to such private information is a criminal offense. My office remains committed to protecting sensitive and personal information from the malicious actions of sophisticated hackers and cyber criminals.”

The arrest stems from the high-profile “celebgate” incident in September 2014, when dozens of models, athletes and actresses — including Kirsten Dunst, Kate Upton and Hope Solo — had nude pictures of them leaked online.

The scandal touched off a discussion of digital privacy and pushed Apple to adopt new security measures. Lawrence also pushed Congress to classify the hacks and leaks as a “sex crime.”

The Justice Department said Collins has not been tied to the actual leak of the photos.

The FBI previously searched a house in Chicago in October 2014 as part of the investigation, seizing several computers, cellphones and hard drives.