A North Branford man arrested earlier this year by federal authorities has admitted to hacking into the accounts of prominent female celebrities and sending their nude photos to sites across the internet in a breach known as “Celebgate.”
George Garofano, 26, entered a guilty plea on cybercrime charges stemming from the breach during a court appearance Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport. He was arrested in Los Angeles.
Garofano was one of several hackers to admit involvement in the scheme, which leaked hundreds of intimate photos of female celebrities onto the internet.
Federal authorities accused Garofano of stealing Apple iCloud accounts from the celebrities, including Lawrence, Kate Upton and Kirsten Dunst, in the 2014 breach. Armed with their account information, authorities said, Garofano lifted intimate photos and videos that were then posted on popular sites, including 4chan, Reddit and Anon-IB.
Authorities said Garofano sent emails to the celebrities under the pretense of being from Apple security, but in common scheme known as phishing, he was able to get these unwitting targets to send him their iCloud user names and passwords, or to enter them in a third-party site. When his monthslong hacking spree ended in October 2014, authorities say, he had amassed about 250 accounts.
Garofano accepted a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in January that called for him to plead guilty to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information, which carries a maximum sentence of up to five years. But under the terms of the deal and the sentencing advisory, he was looking at a sentence of 16 months, plus a fine of more than $50,000.
Garofano had his case transferred to Connecticut for the plea and sentencing. The court has yet to set a sentencing date; in the meantime, Garofano remains free on $50,000 bail.
Three others have been charged in the scheme: Ryan Collins of Lancaster, Pa., Edward Majercyzk and Emilio Herrara, both of Chicago, already have pleaded guilty to cybercrimes.
When Garofano’s arrest was announced, his lawyer said Garofano was duped by these more sophisticated hackers.
“George is a good person who was taken advantage of by several hackers more sophisticated than himself,” Lynch said in an email. “He made mistakes, admits his guilt, apologizes to the victims and seeks the leniency of the court.”
The leaks of the celebrity photos sent a shock through Hollywood and focused criticism on tech giants Apple and Google, the latter for failing to quickly take down the photos from sites it hosted.
Lawrence, one of the most outspoken victims, told Vanity Fair in 2014: “It is a sexual violation. It’s disgusting. The law needs to be changed, and we need to change.”
Courant staff writers Matthew Ormseth and Edmund H. Mahony contributed to this story.
Source: http://www.latimes.com/hc-br-celebgate-hacker-jennifer-lawrence-target-pleads-guilty-20180412-story.html
