Actress Scarlett Johansson said she was "truly humiliated and
embarrassed" by a Florida man who hacked into celebrity email accounts
and procured naked images of her, actions she called "perverted and reprehensible."
Johansson, whose then-husband Ryan Reynolds' email was hacked, videotaped a statement that was played in U.S. District Court on
Monday as Judge S. James Otero sentenced Christopher Chaney, 35, to 10
years in prison.
Chaney, who has maintained he made no money from his actions, had
already pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court to nine counts of
computer hacking and wiretapping for the unauthorized access of email
accounts of 50 people in the entertainment industry.
Once Chaney got photos of the celebrities and other information, he
forwarded the material to another hacker and two celebrity websites that
made them public, according to a plea agreement.
Singer Christina Aguilera, whose email also was hacked, taped a
similar message to the court, saying, "That feeling of security can never be
given back and there is no compensation that can restore the feeling one
has from such a large invasion of privacy."
Actress Renee Olstead, the 23-year-old star of ABC Family Channel's
"The Secret Life of the American Teenager," appeared in court and
described how much the stolen naked images hurt her.
"I just really hope this doesn't happen to someone else," Olstead
said, sobbing. "You can lose everything because of the actions of a
stranger."
Olstead said she comes from a conservative family and worked for a
family network. She said she considered suicide after the photos were
released.
Chaney has admitted that from at least November 2010 to October 2011,
he hacked into the email accounts of Johansson and others by
taking their email addresses, clicking on the "Forgot your password?"
feature and then resetting the passwords by correctly answering their
security questions using publicly available information he found by
searching the Internet.
Most victims did not check their account settings, so even after they
regained control of their email accounts, Chaney's alias address
remained in their settings, the plea agreement said. He continued to
receive copies of thousands of their incoming emails, including
attachments, for weeks or months without his victims' knowledge.
Prosecutors said Chaney began using a proxy service to "cover his tracks" and avoid detection by authorities. Even after investigators took his home computers, they said, Chaney used another computer to hack into another victim's email account.
Though his celebrity victims might have drawn the most attention, prosecutors said Chaney stalked two non-celebrities for more than a decade.
ALSO:
Sandy Hook massacre creates 'new reality,' LAPD chief says
Fashion Island shooting suspect 'totally different,' cousin says
Jenni Rivera: Exec linked to plane had been sued by Los Tigres
— Richard Winton
Scarlett Johansson: Hacker who stole nude photos 'perverted'
This article
Scarlett Johansson: Hacker who stole nude photos 'perverted'
can be opened in url
http://newsimpunctuality.blogspot.com/2012/12/scarlett-johansson-hacker-who-stole.html
Scarlett Johansson: Hacker who stole nude photos 'perverted'
