Investigators believe 35-year-old Christopher Chaney acted alone and hacked his victims' private accounts simply for the thrill rather than money.
- October 13, 2011
AceShowbiz -
FBI has captured the man who has hacked into the email accounts of 50 victims including celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson, Christina Aguilera and Mila Kunis. Christopher Cheney was arrested on Wednesday, October 12 morning in Jacksonville, Florida and charged with identity theft, wiretapping, damaging protected computers without authorization and other crime charges.
The 35-year-old man used multiple aliases when requiring private information of his victims. He then access computers and cell phones under the control of his victims. Among the illegally obtained content are nude photos. Johansson was the last of his celebrity victims whose private photos were exposed online.
Investigators believe Cheney mined available sources about his victims before gaining control of their e-mail accounts. He then moved on from one victim to another using address books in computers that he already breached. According to law enforcement, the hacker did not receive money from acquiring the data for he did it for pure thrill.
Chaney faces up to 121 years in prison if convicted on all accounts. "This [arrest] comes as a relief to the victims, many of whom suffered great distress," Steven Martinez, assistant director in charge of the FBI's L.A. field office, said at a news conference.
