The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2' New York Premiere (Photo : Getty Images)
U.S. federal authorities charged this week a 23-year-old hacker from Bahamas for stealing passwords and installing malware on emails of 130 celebrities, believed to have lled to the Fappening which rocked Hollywood in 2014. It resulted in the release of hundreds of naked photos of actresses, led by A-lister Jennifer Lawrence, star of "The Hunger Games."
Authorities arrested the hacker, Alonzo Knowles, with agents posing as buyers of hacked materials such as sex tapes, nude photos and unreleased scripts. He was charged with felony criminal copyright infringement and identity theft, reports Gizmondo.
Knowles used the alias Jeff Moxey. He did not hacked the celebrities directly, instead Knowles searched for photos of friends of celebrities and hacked their accounts to discover more personal information about the celebrities such as email address or phone number.
He then texted or emailed the celebrities to inform them of their email's hacking and provided a link where the latter could reset their password or send them a virus that provides the hacker access to the victims' computer.
After gaining access to their computers, Knowles changes the setting of the email account to provide him long-term access and allows him to read first-hand information about their projects, discussion with celebrity-friends and nude photos.
After stealing those data, Knowles sells it to the highest bidder. Unfortunately for him, one of the bidders for a filched sex tape was a cop. Feds, though are unsure if Knowles is the author of The Fappening, although the methods he described would help authorities discover other people behind the nude photo leaks.
His last victim in November was a famous radio host to whom Knowles attempted to sell scripts of the first six episodes of a coming season of a hit TV drama. The sixth episode was being filmed then, reports The New York Times.
