14 DAY TRIAL // A judge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, sentenced today Ryan Collins, 36, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to 18 months in federal prison for hacking over 100 Apple and Google email accounts, several of which belonged to Hollywood celebrities.
Collins is one of the two suspects the FBI had arrested and charged for the infamous media scandal known as The Fappening or CelebGate, which took place in September 2014, when an unknown person leaked hundreds of nude photographs and sexually explicit videos of Hollywood celebrities.
Collins is first Fappening hacker to receive his sentence
Authorities initially arrested Collins in March 2016 and then arrested a second suspect, Edward Majerczyk, 28, of Chicago, Illinois, in July 2016.
Investigators charged Collins with hacking 50 iCloud accounts and 72 Gmail accounts, most of which belonged to Hollywood celebrities. They later also charged Majerczyk with hacking 300 iCloud and Gmail accounts, 30 of which belonged to Hollywood stars.
Collins pleaded guilty in May 2016, while Majerczyk did the same last month. Authorities said they have yet to identify the man or group who uploaded online the photos stolen by Collins and Majerczyk.
Collins used phishing to get victims' login credentials
The prosecution said Collins and Majerczyk targeted victims between November 2012 until the beginning of September 2014 with elaborate spear-phishing emails made to look like they were coming from Apple or Google's security teams.
Victims would click on the links, access a web page hosting a fake login screen, and enter their credentials, which would be logged on Collin's server.
The hacker would then access his victim's accounts and use special software to download the content of their email inbox or iCloud account. This is how the hacker retrieved nude photos and videos.
Officials said they identified over 600 victims that fell for Collins and Majerczyk's tricks.
"The defendant intruded into the online accounts of hundreds of victims and in doing so, intruded upon their lives, causing lasting distress," said Deirdre Fike, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. "The prison sentence received by Mr. Collins is proof that hacking into the accounts of others and stealing private information or images is a crime with serious consequences."