Man Charged After Hacking Hollywood Celebrities Email Accounts

A Florida man was charged with hacking into the emails of dozens of people, including Christina Aguilera, Scarlett Johansson and Mila Kunis, in a computer invasion scheme that targeted Hollywood celebrities, according to documents released Wednesday.


A man has been arrested following an FBI investigation into a Hollywood hacking ring which stole naked photographs from the phones and email accounts of celebrities.
The man has been charged with hacking into celebrity email accounts in a scheme that led to the posting of private information, including nude photos of American actress Scarlett Johansson, on the internet.


It was the first arrest in a year long probe called Operation Hackerazzi, which has sought to identify those obtaining private images from electronic devices belonging to female stars.


Christopher Chaney of Jacksonville hacked Google, Apple and Yahoo email accounts beginning last November and December, then hijacked the forwarding feature so that a copy of every email received was sent, "virtually instantaneously" to an email account he controlled, according to an indictment handed up Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles.


There were more than 50 victims in the case, including Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera and actress Renee Olstead, authorities said. Others were named only by initials and investigators wouldn't disclose if they were famous, but said victims named in the indictment agreed to have their identities made public.

Chaney offered some material, including photographs, to celebrity blog sites and some of the files and photographs ultimately were posted, according to an FBI statement.


Chaney allegedly used the hacker names "trainreqsuckswhat", "anonygrrl" and "jaxjaguars911". He is charged with 26 counts of identity theft, unauthorized access and unauthorized damage to a protected computer.


Chaney made his initial court appearance in a Florida courtroom Wednesday and was released on $10,000 bond. He was charged with 26 counts of identity theft, unauthorized access to a protected computer and wiretapping. If convicted, he faces up to 121 years in prison.


Authorities said Chaney was responsible for stealing nude photos taken by Johansson herself and were later posted on the internet.


Last month nude images of the actress Scarlett Johansson appeared on the internet after reportedly being taken from her mobile phone by hackers.


High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens has also reportedly spoken to the FBI about compromising images being stolen her email accounts.


Mila Kunis, Selena Gomez, Jessica Alba, Miley Cyrus and Christina Aguilera were also among the celebrities believed to have been targeted by a hacker in recent months.

Scarlett Johansson, Miley Cyrus, Christina Aguilera, Vanessa Hudgens
- famous victims of the hacker

Speaking after having her private photographs stolen by hackers last month, Miss Johansson said: "Just because you're in the spotlight, or just because you're an actor or making films or whatever, doesn't mean that you're not entitled to your own personal privacy."


A federal grand jury claims that, beginning late last year, Chaney gained unauthorised access to the email accounts of more than 50 people - but the indictment only listed 11 specific incidents.


The suspect was arrested in Florida and is believed to have distributed any images obtained from the hacking to websites for free.
He allegedly offered some of the hacked material, including photographs, to websites and some of it was said to have been posted.


The "cyber intrusions" may have targeted devices including desktop computers, laptops, iPads, mobile phones and personal online accounts.


Authorities wouldn't say whether Chaney was able to access email accounts via mobile phones, but he was able to figure out secure passwords to various celebrity accounts through information that had been made public.


Chaney "mined through publicly available data and figured out passwords and security questions".


Investigators said they hoped the celebrity-infused case will jumpstart those who don't value online security enough to protect their personal information and create more secure passwords that can't be easily figured out by would-be hackers.


Celebrities and people in the news have long been targets of privacy invasion but concerns have redoubled in the internet age.


In Britain, publisher Rupert Murdoch closed down the News of the World this year after contentions that the tabloid routinely hacked into people's phones in the hunt for exclusive stories.


The paper, which had published for 168 years, faced allegations of systematically intercepting private voicemail of those in the news - including a teenage murder victim.

28-hour Rampage in New York

BBC : A man accused of killing four people in a 28-hour rampage in New York City has made a brief court appearance.

Ukrainian-born Maksim Gelman, 23, was charged in Brooklyn with stabbing his stepfather, ex-girlfriend and her mother to death, before fatally running over a pedestrian.

Public defender Michael Baum said Mr Gelman was now "calm" and "rational", but added he could not say anything about his mental state on Friday, when he is alleged to have committed the crimes.

Mr Gelman appeared in court wearing a white tracksuit, after his bloodstained clothing was kept by police as evidence. His wrists and ankles were in shackles.

The attacks are said to have begun around 0500 local time (1000 GMT) on Friday when Mr Gelman allegedly killed his stepfather, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, in Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay neighbourhood.
The suspect had had a fight with his mother after she refused to allow him to use her car, a Lexus, and 54-year-old Mr Kuznetsov had intervened, police said.
Less than six hours later, at about 1030 local time, Mr Gelman went to his ex-girlfriend's home where he killed her 56-year-old mother, Anna Bulchenko. Yelena Bulchenko, 20, is said to have discovered her mother and called police. The attacker, who was still in the house, then chased her outside and stabbed her 11 times.
Police said he drove away in the Lexus, hitting another car in Brooklyn's Midwood neighbourhood. When the driver confronted him, Mr Gelman allegedly stabbed him three times in the chest. The victim survived and is in a stable condition. The suspect then allegedly hit a pedestrian, 62-year-old Stephen Tanenbaum, who died of his injuries.

At about 0100 local time on Saturday, the suspect confronted a cab driver in the Crown Heights area, stabbing him. He then approached a couple in a Nissan and stabbed the man in the hand several times before taking their car. Both men survived.
Later that morning, according to Commissioner Kelly's account, a passengers on an upper Manhattan train got off and told police officers a man fitting Mr Gelman's description had knocked a newspaper out of her hand and said: "Do you believe what they're writing about me?"
Police say Mr Gelman then got off the train, crossed the tracks and boarded a different train where he stabbed a passenger, Joseph Lozito. "He's two or three feet away from me, and he pulls this knife out, looks me in the eye and says, 'You're gonna die'," Mr Lozito told the New York Post.
Mr Gelman then made his way up to the driver's compartment and knocked on it, claiming to be police, Commissioner Kelly said. A police officer in the driver's cab opened the door and wrestled Mr Gelman to the ground, knocking a knife from his hand before he was taken into custody.

Police described Mr Gelman as an unemployed drug user with 10 previous arrests, mostly linked to graffiti and drugs.

He was born in Ukraine, and he and his mother became US citizens about five years ago, Commissioner Kelly said.

Case of Young Man Tied to Wall Sparks National Debate in Netherlands

A Dutch documentary about a mentally ill and potentially dangerous 18-year-old has prompted lawmakers in the Netherlands -- amid national outrage -- to re-examine the treatment of those in psychiatric care.

The documentary, which was produced by the Lutheran-run Evangelical Broadcasting Company and aired on public television Tuesday, followed Brandon van Ingen, a patient at a mental hospital in Ermelo. Since 2007, van Ingen has spent part of his days tethered to a wall due to the danger he poses to others, according to State Secretary for Public Health Marlies Veldhuijzen van Zanten-Hyllner.

"Brandon's issue is so serious that he must be restricted in his freedom for the sake of his own safety and that of others," van Zanten-Hyllner wrote in a letter to parliament. "Because of this, Brandon consistently makes use of a band that he fastens himself when he is in the presence of his attendants and other visitors. Whenever there is no one present and at night, the band is loosened."

In response to the documentary, the country's political parties held emergency meetings Wednesday to discuss care for the mentally ill.
Van Zanten-Hyllner addressed those meetings, explaining that van Ingen's care was in line with rules for restraining mental health patients, but promised to examine whether a change is needed.
"The broadcast stirred me deeply," she wrote in the letter to parliament. "It is upsetting to see that such a young person, who has his life before him, has so little perspective for a better future."
Van Zanten-Hyllner noted that van Ingen, who apparently hears voices that tell him to do "bad and dangerous things," has his own apartment where he can move about freely.

The hospital is working on alternatives for van Ingen's care, van Zanten-Hyllner wrote, "and is undertaking constant efforts to improve the living situation."

The program "Outspoken" learned about Van Ingen's story from one of his caretakers at the hospital.
"I could no longer do these shifts," Iris Mourits said on the program. "Back-up shifts were OK, but being together with him in a room -- I think at some point he could sense that from the depths of my toes I could no longer see him on that leash."

Van Ingen's mother compared his care to that of a "caged animal."
"He feels like a dog on a line," she said.

Heerenloo hospital issued a statement Saturday assuring family members of those at the facility that van Ingen's case is an exceptional one and doesn't reflect the care the majority of patients receive.

Health care inspectors said Thursday that they would "investigate the cases in which freedom is taken away from patients similar to Brandon's situation."
Van Zanten-Hyllner said there are about 40 cases similar to van Ingen's in the Netherlands.

-- CNN