Hacker who stole nude celebrity photos is jailed in the USA

IN A period of two years from 2012 to 2014, a hacker called Ryan Collins stole the password and user names of several hundred people, many of them film stars and singers such as Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst and Rihanna.

Posing as a representative of Apple and Google he contacted the stars asking them to confirm their details and then broke into their iCloud and Gmail accounts and downloaded huge amounts of information including numerous nude pictures and videos in what became known as the Celebgate affair.

Many of these images then appeared online to the surprise and dismay of those whose information had been stolen but when sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, he was not charged for posting the images, simply for stealing them.

Had he been charged with that additional offence then he was expected to be imprisoned for up to five years and face a significant fine.