{"id":24917,"date":"2016-07-01T17:29:15","date_gmt":"2016-07-02T00:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=24917"},"modified":"2016-07-01T17:29:15","modified_gmt":"2016-07-02T00:29:15","slug":"man-hacked-apple-icloud-gmail-accounts-300-people-including-celebrities-charged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=24917","title":{"rendered":"“Celebgate” Defendant to Plea Guilty to Hacking Apple iCloud and Gmail Accounts of 300 People, including Celebrities"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

An Illinois man who was charged Friday with felony computer hacking related to a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to over 300 Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts, including those of celebrities, is expected to plead guilty, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Courtroom\"Edward Majerczyk<\/strong>, 28, who resides in Chicago and Orland Park, Illinois, was named in a criminal complaint filed today in federal court in Los Angeles. <\/span><\/p>\n

Majerczyk has signed an agreement to plead guilty to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, specifically, one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is facing up to five years in prison, according to authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of Majerczyk\u2019s victims were members of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. By illegally accessing the e-mail accounts, Majerczyk accessed at least 300 accounts, and at least 30 accounts belonging to celebrities, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cHacking of online accounts to steal personal information is not merely an intrusion of an individual\u2019s privacy but is a serious violation of federal law,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. \u201cDefendant\u2019s conduct was a profound intrusion into the privacy of his victims and created vulnerabilities at multiple online service providers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to the evidence, from November 23, 2013 through August 2014, Majerczyk engaged in a phishing scheme to obtain usernames and passwords for his victims. <\/span><\/p>\n

He sent e-mails to victims that appeared to be from security accounts of internet service providers that directed the victims to a website that would collect the victims\u2019 usernames and passwords. <\/span><\/p>\n

After victims responded by entering information at that website, Majerczyk had access to victims\u2019 usernames and passwords. <\/span><\/p>\n

After illegally accessing the iCloud and Gmail accounts, Majerczyk obtained personal information including sensitive and private photographs and videos, according to his plea agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThis defendant not only hacked into e-mail accounts \u2013 he hacked into his victims\u2019 private lives, causing embarrassment and lasting harm,\u201d said Deirdre Fike, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI\u2019s Los Angeles Field Office. \u201cAs most of us use devices containing private information, cases like this remind us to protect our data. Members of society whose information is in demand can be even more vulnerable, and directly targeted.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The charge against Majerczyk stems from the investigation into the leaks of photographs of numerous female celebrities in September 2014 known as \u201cCelebgate.\u201d However, investigators have not uncovered any evidence linking Majerczyk to the actual leaks. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Illinois man who was charged Friday with felony computer hacking related to a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to over 300 Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts, including those of celebrities, is expected to plead guilty, officials said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,16,3],"tags":[2820,954,266],"class_list":["post-24917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fbi","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-celebgate","tag-computer-hacking","tag-hacking"],"yoast_head":"\n"Celebgate" Defendant to Plea Guilty to Hacking Apple iCloud and Gmail Accounts of 300 People, including Celebrities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An Illinois man who was charged Friday with felony computer hacking related to a phishing scheme that 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