By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated on 12th October 2011
The FBI has made an arrest as part of its phone hacking investigation weeks after nude photos of Scarlett Johansson were leaked
The FBI has made an arrest as part of its phone hacking investigation weeks after nude photos of Scarlett Johansson leaked.
A Florida man was charged with hacking into the emails of Christina Aguilera, Johansson and Mila Kunis in a computer invasion scheme that targeted Hollywood celebrities, federal authorities said Wednesday.
Christopher Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville was arrested without incident as part of a yearlong investigation of celebrity hacking that was dubbed 'Operation Hackerazzi.' Chaney, who was expected to appear in a Florida courtroom later Wednesday, was charged with 26 counts of identity theft, unauthorized access to a protected computer and wiretapping.
If convicted, he faces up to 121 years in prison. It wasn't immediately known if he had retained an attorney.
Authorities said Chaney was responsible for stealing nude photos taken by Johansson herself and were later posted on the Internet. Chaney offered some material to celebrity blog sites but there is no evidence that he profited from his scheme, said Steven Martinez, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office.
'Celebrity information is highly marketable,' said Martinez, who added his office continues to receive complaints about celebrities' having their personal information breached.
There were more than 50 victims, including Kunis, Aguilera and actress Renee Olstead.
Others were named only by initials and investigators wouldn't identify if they were famous, but said those who were named as victims in the indictment agreed to have the identities made public.
'It helps get out the message that
cyber-hacking is a real threat,' said U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte, who
called those who engage in such activity as 'scum.'
Chaney hacked Google, Apple and Yahoo email accounts beginning last November through February, then hijacked the forwarding feature so that a copy of every email received was sent, 'virtually instantaneously,' to an email account he controlled, according to an indictment handed up Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles.
He allegedly used the hacker names 'trainreqsuckswhat,' ''anonygrrl' and 'jaxjaguars911,' and also used the victims' identities to illegally access and control computers.
Authorities wouldn't say whether Chaney was able to access email accounts via cell phones, but he was able to figure out secure passwords to various celebrity accounts through information that had been made public.
A message seeking comment was left on an answering machine for a Christopher Chaney in Jacksonville. There was no answer at a telephone listing for another Christopher Chaney.
Celebrities and people in the news have long been targets of privacy invasion but concerns have redoubled in the Internet age.
In Britain, publisher Rupert Murdoch
closed down the News of the World this year after contentions that the
tabloid routinely hacked into people's phones in the hunt for exclusive
stories.
The paper, which had published for 168 years, faced allegations of systematically intercepting private voicemail of those in the news — including a teenage murder victim.
Investigators said they hoped the celebrity-infused case will jumpstart those who don't value online security enough to protect their personal information and create more secure passwords that can't be easily figured out by would-be hackers.
'Taking these steps will go a long way in protecting yourself from the financial and emotional costs of having someone intrude on your private life and potentially steal your identity,' Birotte said.
Posting source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2048359/Scarlett-Johansson-nude-photos-hacker-Christopher-Chaney-arrested-FBI.html
Last updated on 12th October 2011
The FBI has made an arrest as part of its phone hacking investigation weeks after nude photos of Scarlett Johansson were leakedA Florida man was charged with hacking into the emails of Christina Aguilera, Johansson and Mila Kunis in a computer invasion scheme that targeted Hollywood celebrities, federal authorities said Wednesday.
Christopher Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville was arrested without incident as part of a yearlong investigation of celebrity hacking that was dubbed 'Operation Hackerazzi.' Chaney, who was expected to appear in a Florida courtroom later Wednesday, was charged with 26 counts of identity theft, unauthorized access to a protected computer and wiretapping.
If convicted, he faces up to 121 years in prison. It wasn't immediately known if he had retained an attorney.
Authorities said Chaney was responsible for stealing nude photos taken by Johansson herself and were later posted on the Internet. Chaney offered some material to celebrity blog sites but there is no evidence that he profited from his scheme, said Steven Martinez, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office.
'Celebrity information is highly marketable,' said Martinez, who added his office continues to receive complaints about celebrities' having their personal information breached.
There were more than 50 victims, including Kunis, Aguilera and actress Renee Olstead.
Others were named only by initials and investigators wouldn't identify if they were famous, but said those who were named as victims in the indictment agreed to have the identities made public.
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of
California Andre Birotte Jr answered questions after announcing the
arrest of Christopher Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville, Florida, in Operation
Hackerazzi
At a press conference on Wednesday the FBI
showed how the celebrities, more 50 in total and many still anonymous,
were hacked in six steps
Chaney hacked Google, Apple and Yahoo email accounts beginning last November through February, then hijacked the forwarding feature so that a copy of every email received was sent, 'virtually instantaneously,' to an email account he controlled, according to an indictment handed up Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles.
He allegedly used the hacker names 'trainreqsuckswhat,' ''anonygrrl' and 'jaxjaguars911,' and also used the victims' identities to illegally access and control computers.
Celebrities who agreed to be named in the
indictment included Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera and lesser known
actress Renee Olstead, who has a role on TV show The Secret Life of the
American Teenager
Chaney
is accused of damaging email servers that caused losses of at least
$5,000 per instance.Authorities wouldn't say whether Chaney was able to access email accounts via cell phones, but he was able to figure out secure passwords to various celebrity accounts through information that had been made public.
A message seeking comment was left on an answering machine for a Christopher Chaney in Jacksonville. There was no answer at a telephone listing for another Christopher Chaney.
Celebrities and people in the news have long been targets of privacy invasion but concerns have redoubled in the Internet age.
Rupert Murdoch, who closed the News of the World
over hacking, giving evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Select
Committee on the News of the World phone-hacking scandal in July
The paper, which had published for 168 years, faced allegations of systematically intercepting private voicemail of those in the news — including a teenage murder victim.
Investigators said they hoped the celebrity-infused case will jumpstart those who don't value online security enough to protect their personal information and create more secure passwords that can't be easily figured out by would-be hackers.
'Taking these steps will go a long way in protecting yourself from the financial and emotional costs of having someone intrude on your private life and potentially steal your identity,' Birotte said.
Posting source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2048359/Scarlett-Johansson-nude-photos-hacker-Christopher-Chaney-arrested-FBI.html
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