Hacker convicted of stealing photos of Jennifer Lawrence and other nude actresses

O The Guardian reported today that another hacker responsible for leaking photos of several naked actresses was sentenced to prison.

Accused of illegally hacking service accounts iCloud in more than 240 people (including several Hollywood stars like Jennifer Lawrence, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst, Kaley Cuoco, Victoria Justice and Teresa Palmer) and make the content (nude photos and personal information) available on the internet, George Garofano (26 years old) was sentenced to eight months in prison when he leaves, he will be supervised for another three years.

Last April, Garofano pleaded guilty, admitting that he sent emails to victims impersonating Apple (in order to obtain the usernames and passwords of the victims, a technique known as phishing). Also according to the British newspaper, prosecutors wanted a sentence of 10 to 16 months in prison; the hacker, on the other hand, asked for leniency and waited for 5 months of imprisonment and another 5 months of confinement at home.

In a condemnation memo, the prosecution said:

Garofano's crime was serious. He illegally hacked his victims' online accounts, hacked into their privacy and stole their personal information, including private and intimate photos. He did not engage in this conduct on just one occasion. He engaged in this conduct 240 times over the course of 18 months.

Not only did Mr. Garofano keep the photographs he stole for himself, he also disseminated them to other people. He also sold them to others in order to earn "extra income".

In committing this offense, Mr. Garofano acted in complete and utter disrespect for the impact on the lives of his victims.

Garofano, however, said that he has already suffered serious consequences and that he has done everything to clean up the mess he made on the internet. His defense lawyer stated that "he is now before the court having matured, accepting responsibility for his actions and having had no problems with the law since then" and that, therefore, "there is nothing to suggest that he never get involved in this or any other criminal conduct in the future ”.

In addition to Garofano, other names have also been condemned: Ryan Collins, Edward Majerczyk, Andrew Helton and Emilio Herrera.

via 9to5Mac