Category Archives: George Garafano

Fourth man receives prison sentence in ‘Celebgate’ photo leak

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George Garofano was sentenced to eight months in prison on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to hacking 240 iCloud accounts and taking part in a campaign known as “Celebgate” that resulted in the posting of nude photographs of female celebrities online. Garofano, 26, faced up to five years in prison. Earlier this month, he expressed remorse and asked the judge for a shorter sentence. The defendant’s lawyer emphasized that he was not the mastermind behind the scheme and that he had matured since the wrongdoing, committed when he was 21 years old. Prosecutors asked for a sentence of 10 to 16 months. Garofano, who will surrender in October, will face supervised release for three years after the prison stint is over. “Garofano used the usernames and passwords to illegally access his victims’ iCloud accounts, which allowed him to steal personal information, including sensitive and private photographs and videos, according to his plea […]

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Celebgate hacker pleads guilty; all involved will now serve prison sentences

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A Connecticut man charged with breaking into 240 iCloud accounts as part of the Celebgate saga has pleaded guilty for his role in the crime. George Garofano, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information which carries a maximum prison term of five years. Sentencing has not yet been determined. He was released on $50,000 bond. The plea comes as another person charged in the ordeal, Emilio Herrera, was sentenced to 16 months in prison for his role in the crime. Herrera, 32, pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced last month. ‘Celebgate’ refers to an incident in August 2014 when nude photographs of celebrities were posted on public online forms. Garofano and Herrera carried out their attacks using spear phishing emails that appeared to be from Apple. “Garofano used the usernames and passwords to illegally access his victims’ iCloud accounts, which allowed him to steal […]

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