The Fappening hacker has pleaded guilty at court as it was revealed that he used the common phishing tactic to access the private photos and videos of famous celebrities in 2014.
Edward Majerczyk now faces up to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty in the Celebgate or popularly known as The Fappening. In 2014, there were several leaks of nude photos and videos of famous celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence, Kaley Cuoco, Kate Upton and more.
It was previously thought that the incident was due to a vulnerability in Apple's iCloud servers but it was immediately denied by the Cupertino-based tech giant after an internal investigation. Majerczyk used a phishing campaign as he violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, The Verge has learned.
The Internet almost exploded as people browsed directory after directory of the nude photo compilations of famous celebrities. There were even follow ups several months after the original The Fappening as it leaked throughout Reddit and to torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay and KickAssTorrents.
There are even some websites which host the photos and videos in exchange for viewing some ads on the site. Up until now, the photos still exist within the realm of the Internet never to be forgotten.
Interestingly, Majercyzk pleaded guilty even if there was no evidence linking him to The Fappening hack incident. FBI Los Angeles Assistant Director Deirdre Fike said that the suspect also hacked into the victims' private lives, BBC News reported.
The investigation was said to be the reason that linked Majercyzk to the hacking incident. There was also another hacker named Ryan Collins who pleaded guilty in hacking other celebrity profiles to leak private images and videos.
Just like Majercyzk, Collins was linked to The Fappening and Celebgate incident with no evidences. The latter reportedly has a deal to serve 18 months instead of five years.
Both hackers are linked to The Fappening photo and video leaks but there could still be more people involved. The authorities, however, do not believe that Collins and Majercyzk worked together to leak the images to the public.