Mobile menu toggle

‘Celebgate’ hacker pleads guilty to cracking iCloud accounts

By

Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison
Edward Majerczyk will be sentenced soon.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

A hacker who broke into more than 30 iCloud accounts has pleaded guilty for his role in the “Celebgate” leak of 2014. Edward Majerczyk faces up to five years in prison for illegally obtaining private celebrity photos.

Majerczyk, 28, worked alongside Ryan Collins, who pleaded guilty to his role in the hack back in March, to create a phishing scam that tricked celebrities into entering login information into fake websites.

They then used this information to obtain access to over 300 Gmail and iCloud accounts.

“This defendant not only hacked into e-mail accounts — he hacked into his victims’ private lives, causing embarrassment and lasting harm,” said FBI assistant director Deirdre Fike. “As most of us use devices containing private information, cases like this remind us to protect our data.”

Neither Majerczyk or Collins have been charged with distributing the photos and videos online yet. The Justice Department says that “investigators have not uncovered any evidence linking Majerczyk to the actual leaks.”

Via: The Verge

  • Subscribe to the Newsletter

    Our daily roundup of Apple news, reviews and how-tos. Plus the best Apple tweets, fun polls and inspiring Steve Jobs bons mots. Our readers say: "Love what you do" -- Christi Cardenas. "Absolutely love the content!" -- Harshita Arora. "Genuinely one of the highlights of my inbox" -- Lee Barnett.

4 responses to “‘Celebgate’ hacker pleads guilty to cracking iCloud accounts”

  1. Spiffers says:

    I thought this was known as the fappening.

    • Spiffers says:

      Wasnt the whole happening degenerated anywayz? ;)

      • Wanda54687 says:

        I currently make about 6k-8k dollars /every month working online. Everyone willing to do simple online jobs for 2h-5h a day at your house and earn decent paycheck for doing it… Then this opportunity is for you… SELF90.COM

        GGFDG

  2. CelestialTerrestrial says:

    Wah, wah, wah…………. Now, he’s going to be used as a receptacle for other people’s play thing. Ouch. He needs to buy some cases of Vaseline. :-)

Leave a Reply