Hacker jailed after leaking nude photos of celebrities
A HACKER who stole nude photos of A-list celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence by accessing their online accounts has been handed an eightmonth prison sentence.
George Garofano was one of four charged with hacking the Apple iCloud accounts of 240 people in 2014, in a breach dubbed ‘Celebgate’.
Some 100 celebrities were thought to have been among the victims, including pop singer Rihanna, actress Kirsten Dunst and model Kate Upton. Members of the public were also hacked.
The nude photos were then leaked online. The other three hackers have already been sentenced to prison terms ranging from nine to 18 months. Garofano, 26, of North Branford in Connecticut, America, admitted that he posed as a member of Apple’s security team to send out emails asking for usernames and passwords.
In a sentencing memo to the US district court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the prosecution wrote: ‘Mr Garofano’s offence was a serious one.
‘He illegally hacked into his victims’ online accounts, invaded their privacy, and stole their personal information, including private and intimate photos. He did not engage in this conduct on just one occasion. He engaged in this conduct 240 times over the course of 18 months.’
The court also heard that Garofano then shared the photos and may have also sold them.
Miss Lawrence previously said the breach was equivalent to a sex crime and called for stronger laws.
Last year she added: ‘When the hacking thing happened, it was so unbelievably violating that you can’t even put it into words.’