14 DAY TRIAL // Mitchel van der K., a former member of the VVD political party in the Netherlands, could spend his next three years in jail after he hacked into the iCloud accounts of several celebrities, stole their personal materials, and then posted part of the content online.
The incident took place back in 2015 when Van der K. was a member of the Almere city council, but his invasion of the accounts was only discovered two years later after one of the victims reported a breach of her iCloud account to the police.
The hacks, which are believed to be part of a global incident more broadly known as The Fappening or Celebgate, specifically targeted celebrities. Victims in the Netherlands include Dutch former hockey player Fatima Moreira de Melo and YouTuber Laura Ponticorvo, according to local newspaper Ad.nl (Dutch).
Other famous names who were hacked as part of The Fappening include Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst, Kate Upton, and Kaley Cuoco.
The man hacked hundreds of personal accounts, according to the prosecutors, and stole more than 30,000 private images that were then stored on his computers and mobile devices. Part of them ended up online.
Spying on neighbors
Van der K. admitted that he hacked the women, as per NOS.nl (translated version), but claimed that he wasn’t the one who posted the stolen content online. Additionally, the man claims he was pressured to break into the iCloud accounts by another hacker who threatened him with the leak of sensitive material of his own unless he hacked the celebrities. Van der K. could not reveal the identify of this hacker, however.
In addition to nude photos, Van der K. also extracted a series of other personal materials, including private family photos of his targets, personal documents, and video recordings uploaded in the cloud.
According to Dutch media, the politician also used surveillance systems to spy on other people. A security camera was discovered in his home, and the investigators discovered it was specifically installed to record the bedroom window of a friend.
Prosecutors are now asking for three years in prison, and a court ruling is expected on December 24.