Hacker who stole celebrities' nude photos will plead guilty - CNET

Remember "Celebgate," when a hacker got into actresses' iCloud accounts and grabbed their nude photos?

The feds never forgot. And on Tuesday, the US Department of Justice said Ryan Collins, 36, has agreed to plead guilty to the 2014 hack that stole more than photos from celebrities' iCloud and Google accounts. (You might know the incident by a more crass name -- "the fappening.")

"[Collins] was charged today with felony computer hacking related to a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to over 100 Apple and Google e-mail accounts, including those belonging to members of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles," the Justice Department said in a statement. Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst, Kaley Cuoco and Kate Upton, among others, confirmed the photos were authentic.

The photos were spread widely on Web forums like Reddit and 4chan. Collins is not charged with leaking the photos after taking them. "Investigators have not uncovered any evidence linking Collins to the actual leaks or that Collins shared or uploaded the information he obtained," the Justice Department said in a statement.

Collins, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, accessed the women's accounts through one of two methods: He sent emails that looked like they came Apple or Google representative, or he guessed their passwords by brute force. He faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines, plus potential restitution owed to the victims.