In 2014, private photos from starlets like Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Kirsten Dunst and more found their way onto Reddit and the rest of the internet and while these kinds of leaks are nothing new, it was the largest one of its kind. According to The Hollywood Reporter, one of the men responsible has pleaded guilty to hacking into the iCloud accounts of dozens of celebrities. 26-year-old George Garofano pleaded guilty on Wednesday to unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information, after prosecutors say he sent emails to written to appear like it came from Apple directly and asked for usernames and passwords. This gave Garofano access to approximately 250 iCloud accounts, giving him access to plenty of private information, photos, and videos.
Starting on the message board Reddit, x-rated photos of stars like Lawrence, Upton, Dunst, Jill Scott Gabrielle Union, Vanessa Hudgens, Kim Kardashian and Ariana Grande (who would go on to deny the authenticity of her photos) made their way to other platforms including Twitter and Tumblr. It caused a firestorm, with some celebrities even criticizing iCloud's security.
Garofano faces up to five years in prison and will be sentenced at a later date. Another man, Ryan Collins, was already charged in connection with the leak and was sentenced to 18 months in prison back in 2016. Garofano is currently free on a $50,000 bond.
