A Pennsylvania man has been charged with hacking Apple and Google email accounts belonging to more than 100 people – mostly celebrities.
From November 2012 until September 2014, Ryan Collins engaged in a phishing scheme to obtain usernames and passwords from his victims.
He sent emails to victims that appeared to be from Apple or Google, asking them to provide their usernames and passwords.
After illegally accessing the email accounts, Collins obtained personal information including nude photographs and videos – according to his plea agreement.
In some instances, Collins would use software to download the contents of the victims’ Apple iCloud backups.
Collins has signed a plea agreement and agreed to plead guilty to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
He faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, although the parties involved have agreed to recommend a prison term of 18 months.
