Virginia Teacher Sentenced to 34 Months in Prison for 2014 Celebrity iCloud Hack

iCloud AltFor his role in the 2014 iCloud hacks that saw many celebrity photos illicitly shared on the internet, former high school teacher Christopher Brannan has been sentenced to 34 months in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia (via AppleInsider).

Brannan was charged with unauthorized access to a protected computer and aggravated identity theft. Court documents say that he accessed the ‌iCloud‌, Yahoo, Facebook, and email accounts of more than 200 victims, both celebrities and non-celebrities.

He was able to obtain full ‌iCloud‌ backups, photographs, and other information using phishing email accounts that were designed to look like legitimate emails from Apple. He also hacked email accounts by answering security questions using data found on victims' Facebook accounts.

After obtaining Apple account information, Brannan would search for "sensitive and private photographs and videos, including nude photographs."

Brannan is one of multiple people who were found accessing and distributing celebrity photos in the 2014 attack. Ryan Collins, Edward Majerczyk, and Emilio Herrera, and George Garafano have previously been sentenced to prison terms ranging from eight months to 18 months.

When hundreds of nude celebrity photos began leaking on the internet in 2014 as part of what's now known as the "Celebgate" attack, there was initial speculation that ‌iCloud‌ had been hacked.

Following an investigation, however, Apple found that the accounts in question were compromised by weak passwords and skilled phishing attempts.

Apple has since implemented multiple changes to ‌iCloud‌ security, adding two-factor authentication to iCloud.com, introducing email alerts when an ‌iCloud‌ account is accessed either on the web or on another device, and requiring app-specific passwords for third-party apps that access ‌iCloud‌.

Unfortunately, the kind of phishing emails that led to the 2014 celebrity leak are still widely used today, and phishing scammers have only gotten better at what they do.

To thwart phishing attempts, Apple maintains a support page with information on how to avoid fake support calls, phishing emails, and other scam techniques that malicious individuals employ to extract information from Apple users.

Those concerned about being the victim of a phishing attack should take measures to stay safe, including using two-factor authentication, getting a password manager like 1Password and using a unique password for each and every site, and avoiding suspicious phone calls and emails, even if they look like they come from Apple.

Top Rated Comments

ipedro Avatar
53 months ago
It was not a hack. You should know better, this is a tech website. We have a hard enough time correcting the misconception that iCloud was hacked (it wasn’t), we don’t need Macrumors reinforcing it.

This was social engineering, phishing celebrities into giving up their passwords voluntarily.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
53 months ago
Ah, yes. The “Fappening”!
I know, right? I'm not sure why the post called it "Celebgate". I've never heard it called that! It's always been "The Fappening".
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MagicBoy Avatar
53 months ago
Since when was it called Celebgate? I'm told the torrent file was called "The Fappening".
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johnalan Avatar
53 months ago
What a way to treat a national treasure.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fortimir Avatar
53 months ago
"...as part of what's now known as the "Celebgate" attack."

Stop trying to make "Celebgate" happen. It's not going to happen.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JimmyHook Avatar
53 months ago
There has never been a hack of iCloud period. The law requires any hacks be reported, none have, therefore iCloud is still the most secure cloud service in existence
[doublepost=1551468630][/doublepost]
If they're storing passwords correctly, how would they know that?
By asking the account owners during an investigation is the most likely answer
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 15 Pro Buttons CAD Leak

iPhone 15 Pro Leak Reveals Unified Volume Button and Mute Button

Monday March 20, 2023 8:33 am PDT by
As previously rumored, the next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will feature a unified volume button and a mute button, according to leaked CAD images shared in a video on the Chinese version of TikTok and posted to Twitter by ShrimpApplePro. Instead of separate buttons for volume up and volume down, the iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to have a single elongated button for...
iOS 16

iOS 16.4 for iPhone Nearing Launch With These 5 New Features

Monday March 20, 2023 11:50 am PDT by
Apple says iOS 16.4 is coming in the spring, which began this week. In his Sunday newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the update should be released "in the next three weeks or so," meaning a public release is likely in late March or early April. iOS 16.4 remains in beta testing and introduces a handful of new features and changes for the iPhone. Below, we have recapped five new features ...
voice isolation

iOS 16.4 Adds Voice Isolation for Cellular Phone Calls

Tuesday March 21, 2023 11:01 am PDT by
The iOS 16.4 update that is set to be released to the public in the near future includes voice isolation for cellular calls, according to notes that Apple shared today. Apple says that Voice Isolation will prioritize your voice and block out the ambient noise around you, making for clearer phone calls where you can better hear the person you're chatting with and vice versa. Voice...
original iphone auction

Factory-Sealed Original iPhone Sells for $55,000 at Auction

Friday March 17, 2023 1:08 pm PDT by
A first-generation iPhone still sealed inside its box sold for $54,904 at auction, which is more than $54,000 over the original $599 price tag of the device when it was released in 2007. The original iPhone was put up for sale by RR Auction on behalf of a former Apple employee who purchased it back when it first came out. Back in February, an original, sealed iPhone sold for over $63,000,...
airpodsd 3 purple 4

iOS 16.4 Seemingly References New AirPods and AirPods Case

Tuesday March 21, 2023 11:43 am PDT by
The iOS 16.4 release candidate version that was provided to developers today appears to hint at a new set of AirPods that could be coming in the near future. According to @aaronp613, the beta features references to AirPods that have a model number of A3048 and an AirPods case with a model number of A2968. There have been no rumors that new AirPods are on the horizon, and it is early for...
iOS 16

Apple Seeds Release Candidate Versions of iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 to Developers [Update: Public RC Available]

Tuesday March 21, 2023 10:25 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after the launch of the fourth betas. The RCs mark the final version of the software that will be provided to the public in the near future. Registered developers are able to download the iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 updates...
google bard

Google Opens Up Access to Bard AI Chatbot

Tuesday March 21, 2023 4:23 pm PDT by
Google today began allowing users to sign up to use Bard, its AI-powered chatbot that rivals Microsoft's Bing chatbot. First announced back in February, Bard is an experimental conversational AI service for Google Search. Those interested in Bard can join Google's waitlist to get access, and some users have reported getting invitation emails just hours after signing up. There are a long list ...
smart monitor m8 samsung

Deals: Samsung's iMac-Like Smart Monitor M8 Drops to Lowest Price of Year So Far With $250 Discount

Monday March 20, 2023 8:27 am PDT by
Samsung today kicked off a special "Discover Samsung" event, which will be a week-long savings event focusing on Samsung monitors, smartphones, TVs, appliances, and more. While some deals will stick around the entire week (through March 26), others will refresh every day. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Samsung. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...