icloud_icon_blueRyan Collins, the 36-year-old Pennsylvania man behind the hacking of celebrity iCloud accounts in 2014, has signed a plea agreement and agreed to plead guilty to a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Department of Justice announced (via Gawker).

Collins spent two years (November 2012 to September 2014) engaged in a phishing scheme to obtain the usernames and passwords of his victims, according to the "factual basis of the plea agreement." He sent his victims emails that appeared to be from Apple and Google, asking them to provide their usernames and passwords.

Once Collins obtained the data, he used them to illegally access accounts and extracted private information, which included nude photographs and videos. He also used a software program to download some of the victims' iCloud backups. While Collins obtained the private photos and videos, investigators have not been able to find any evidence that he leaked, shared or uploaded them to the Internet.

“By illegally accessing intimate details of his victims' personal lives, Mr. Collins violated their privacy and left many to contend with lasting emotional distress, embarrassment and feelings of insecurity,” said David Bowdich, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “We continue to see both celebrities and victims from all walks of life suffer the consequences of this crime and strongly encourage users of Internet-connected devices to strengthen passwords and to be skeptical when replying to emails asking for personal information.”

Collins has been charged in Los Angeles, but the case will be transferred to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania so that he can enter his guilty plea. He will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, but the parties have agreed to recommend a prison term of 18 months. The DoJ stresses that the recommendation is not binding to the sentencing judge.

Shortly after the breach occurred in September 2014, Apple conducted an investigation that revealed the accounts were compromised by weak passwords. The company then made several changes, adding email alerts when iCloud accounts are accessed on the web, app-specific passwords for third-party apps accessing iCloud and enabling two-factor authorization on iCloud.com.

Top Rated Comments

nagromme Avatar
122 months ago
Facts: Google AND Apple AND other users were persuaded to tell a stranger their passwords, so no hacking was needed.

Media headlines that will be remembered forever: APPLE'S SYSTEM WAS HACKED!!!!
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
akfgpuppet Avatar
122 months ago
You guys forgot to include:

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues ('https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/politics-religion-social-issues.47/') forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mw360 Avatar
122 months ago
Nope they we're not! have you ever seen Amateur photos? are all porn!, JLaw's was just erotic nude photos that many others actress already done it in movies, the other photos of her were fake and was someone else. $$$$ JLaw! she one of main reason why PirateBay went down a month later
Why people are supporting her is beyond me! The whole thing was just to promote herself, if you don't agree with me than please explain how there's isn't one porn photo of her from 100 photos?
W..T...F....?

Jennifer Lawrence needed to 'promote' herself? She chose 4chan as a place do do it? It's 'suspicious' she didn't have any porn pictures in her account? Suspicious? Amateur's photos are all porn? You have a really messed up view of what women should be doing with their time. 'She was asking for it,' is not a great way to justify your invasion of her privacy.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrNomNoms Avatar
122 months ago
Collins spent two years (November 2012 to September 2014) engaged in a phishing scheme to obtain the usernames and passwords of his victims
So in other words it had nothing to do with iCloud security as the perennial Apple bashers love to go on about but stupid people doing stupid things. Maybe in future before people jump into bashing Apple that such individuals realise that the weakest link is the end user himself/herself rather than it necessarily being the result of lax security on the part of the service provider.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RiddlaBronc Avatar
122 months ago
Cant complain. Jennifer Lawrence's nudes were amazing to say the least
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kahkityoong Avatar
122 months ago
Clueless people being duped into giving away their passwords is not being 'hacked'.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's Upcoming Macs Listed in New Report

Thursday July 3, 2025 9:09 am PDT by
AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic today shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, which should roll out over the next year or so. The report does not reveal anything too surprising, but it does serve as further evidence that Apple is seemingly working on new models of every Mac, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Apple is...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...