back to article Florida man 'fesses to naked Scarlett Johansson outrage

A Florida man has admitted hacking into the email accounts of celebrities including Mila Kunis and Scarlett Johansson. Christopher Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville, Florida, agreed on Monday to plead guilty to nine felony charges including computer hacking and wiretapping, AP reports. The plea follows Chaney's arrest in October …

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  1. Graham Bartlett

    '"Chris has been very cooperative with prosecutors, he's remorseful for any of the harm caused to the stars, and just looks to a resolution of the case," defence attorney Christopher Chestnut told the news agency.'

    Not that old chestnut again...

    1. DrXym

      At least he didn't claim aspergers made him do it. That tends to be the usual excuse once caught.

    2. Oninoshiko
      Thumb Down

      He's quite remorseful....

      remoreseful he got cought.

      He either lacks the ability to judge right from wrong, or knew DAMN well what he was doing was wrong and just didn't care. If it's the first then he is a danger to socity (and needs removed from it for the protection of all). If its the second, he needs the full force of the law brought to bare.

      I'm really tired of hearing how people are "sorry" for a multi-year pattern of behavior.

    3. Franklin

      I'm still a bit puzzled by what "harm he caused the stars," exactly. I mean, inconvenience, certainly, but "harm"? I find it odd that he's potentially facing a 100-year sentence (at least according to the news reports I've read), whereas the bloke who killed Michael Jackson got, what, 4? Does seem odd to me that filching someone's cell phone pics is, in the eyes the law, more harmful than killing them. How else can we explain the discrepancy in maximum jail terms?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Your average lawyer or judge really doesn't understand tech very well. The result is any crime involving technology automatically acts as a multiplier for sentencing:

        e.g.s:

        - USA cheque / credit fraud -vs- wire fraud,

        - MPs £30,000 expenses fraud = 16 months imprisonment -vs- chav's unsuccessful "let's riot" post on Facebook = 4 years imprisonment

        Add to that the unnecessarily punative headline-seeking behaviour of prosecutors in the USA, and you have obscenely long sentences.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Err

          Incitement to riot is a damn site more serious than £30k of expenses. Unless you're suggesting that because the incitement was on a web based system it is somehow a special case?

          1. Citizen Kaned

            Re: Err

            some of the guys who stole trivial things in the riots got 4 years. one guy nicked a pair of trainers from a shop that had already been broken into, he got 4 years.

            how is that fair? surely he should just say 'ooh, ok' and give them back. isnt that how it worked for the MPs?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    wait, there were shots of Mila Kunis?!?

    Why wasn't I told?

    1. Dave 126
      Happy

      Oh but you were! : D

      The Register . co . uk /2011/10/12/scarlett_johansson_hacker_charged

      I have no idea who this lady is, but her name alone I find strangely alluring.

      1. LoopyChew

        Re: Oh but you were! : D

        Mila Kunis, aka the girl who made out with Natalie Portman in The Black Swan.

  3. Ageless Stranger

    Playmobil or it didnt happen

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Worth it.

  5. Dave 126

    Fit punishment...

    The court could order naked pictures of him to be posted on the internet and to all his email contacts.

    If necessary, penis ensmallment (what is the opposite of 'enlargement'?), belly enlargement and addition of zits should be performed using the new Photoshop.

    Or alter photos to make him look sexy and distribute these amongst his future cell block co-habitees.

    Sorry, it's a Friday.

    1. LoopyChew

      Re: Fit punishment...

      Ensmallment is a perfectly cromulent word.

      (I think you're looking for "reduction.")

      1. Martin Huizing

        Re: Fit punishment...

        It would be 'Penis size reduction'. With penis reduction he would be left with none.

        Also a fit punishment IMHO

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hacking?

    Using publically available info to access someone's e-mail is hardly hacking.

    Especially when you then forward all the persons e-mails onto yourself.

    It hardly the most sophisticated of attacks and hardly the most ingenuous of computer criminals.

    How it took the police nearly a year to track this gut down is beyond me.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Hacking?

        Social engineering can still be considered hacking. Hacking doesn't always require a programmer hammering away at a keyboard.

    2. steve876
      Trollface

      Re: Hacking?

      "Christopher Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville, Florida"

      35!?!?!!? He looks more like 55 !!

    3. DrXym

      Re: Hacking?

      It's certainly not a very hard exploit but it's still obtaining unauthorized access to an electronic service and would be subject to the same penalties.

      Some of the blame should go to the service provider for asking really stupid security questions. While it's possible some savvy person mightn't truthfully answer "whats your mother's maiden name?" the reality is that the vast majority of people would. As such it's crap security, particularly when the answer is easily discoverable.

      1. NogginTheNog

        Re: Hacking?

        Or more fool the celebs for putting down the GENUINE answers?? There's no reason you can't just make up more secure ones, as long as YOU can remember what they are!

        What the guy did was STILL wrong of course though :-\

      2. mark 63 Silver badge
        Flame

        Re: Hacking?

        dead right dr.

        the maiden name as a means of security is as outdated and useless as the "signature" we had until recent indroduction of chip 'n pin

        I can scarecely believe that until a couple of years ago the security of your money rested on you being the only one able to reproduce the vague squiggle on the back of your bank card - that was there for the thief to practice before hand.

        Christ its like like a sentry saying "your password is 'bacon' , can you say 'bacon' "?

        In spite of this your signature is widely held to show that you authenticated or agreed to something.

        Its fucking stone-age!

  7. Cliff

    codenamed 'Operation Hackerazzi'

    I thought the point of having operation names was to obfuscate, not clarify the point of the operation. Why not go the whole hog and call this Operation Johanssens Email?

  8. Kubla Cant

    Nude emails?

    If my spouse, or anyone of my acquaintance for that matter, emailed me nude pictures of herself, I might or might not be titillated, depending on who it was.

    But I'd think it suggested a weird personality trait in the sender. Low self-esteem? Too much self-esteem? I'm not sure, but definitely something odd.

    I don't think I'm being prudish. I'm just slightly disturbed by the motivation behind the email. Think about the process behind it -getting nude shots taken (or taking them yourself), thinking "what this message really lacks is a picture of my privates", hunting one down and attaching it.

    How different from the life of our own dear Queen!

    1. Magnus_Pym

      Re: Nude emails?

      I agree in a way. I would have thought even the dumbest celbretard would have heard of hacked emails by now. Everyone should be aware that if you aren't ready to publish something on the web you shouldn't put it on a computer (those without access to a tame security consultant anyway).

      Surely anyone who can earn big bucks posing for lad mags would know that naked (or semi-naked) pictures of them might be worth somebody's time to get hold of.

    2. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects
      Coat

      Re: Nude emails?

      What was her mother's maiden name and what would you like to see?

  9. Lamont Cranston

    "he's remorseful for any of the harm caused to the stars"

    He kept their names in the paper - will they be paying him for this service?

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hack and go to prison

    If you're dumb enough to hack then you're dumb enough to go to prison.

  11. Jamie Kitson

    SP

    No naked pics of Sarah Palin? :'(

    1. Jimbo 6

      Re: SP

      He looked, but the only beaver shots on her account just involved semi-aquatic quadrupeds and heavy-calibre rifles.

      1. Arctic fox
        Thumb Up

        @Jimbo 6 Re:........."the only beaver shots on her account...................

        ........... just involved semi-aquatic quadrupeds and heavy-calibre rifles."

        For some reason that sounds even more perverse, or do I mean perverted?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: beaver shots

        She IS a f***ing quadruped - they just prop her up for photos.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Facepalm

      Re: SP

      I just vomited over my keyboard

  12. Pink Duck
    Meh

    Security reset?

    Erm, shouldn’t resetting security on an account cause a new password to be in place and thus wouldn’t the celebritards notice fairly swiftly that something’s up?

    1. stanimir

      Re: Security reset?

      yes, but i bet they can also had their own password in their mail box... so it can be restored.

      either way - that should be a major fail of the mail service provider for asking so dumb questions - but it's true: questions like "my first car" popular enough.

  13. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Harm"?

      I think Scarlett had quite a high profile anyhow, and she perhaps thought she should have the last call on what images of what parts of her body entered the public domain.

      1. Kestrix

        Re: "Harm"?

        Given her high profile status being an actress, it seems to me that nude images of her self would of been of interest to the media and individuals like the one being prosecuted. Leaving said pictures on her email account is entering them into the public domanin as far as I'm concerned as neather the media or individuals like the one being prosecuted have any morality and so hacking an email account means nothing untill they are prosecuted!

  14. Eduard Coli
    Gimp

    Stupid

    Seems though that people, particuarly famous people should not use a phone to take blue pictures.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Stupid

      Speaking of stupid people Obama managed to get his Blackberry hacked.

  15. Entropiated
    Megaphone

    Not buying it...

    I'm not convinced. I need to see the evidence to make up my mind for sure.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A prison cell awaits

    Fresh meat for Bubba.

  17. Alyas
    Happy

    When it comes to posting the private pics of beautiful actresses, I like to keep abreast of the situation. Thanks El Reg!

  18. Mikel
    Angel

    The important thing above all else

    The man found himself in possession of nude pictures of fine Scarlett. Any man who finds himself in that position is morally obligated to share this bounty with his fellow men, the online brotherhood of porn oglers. He discharged his duty honorably, and should be celebrated as the hero and martyr that he is.

    Let's stand up a fund to keep him in snacks while he's away.

    1. Mark 65

      Re: The important thing above all else

      Mitigating circumstances. Let's hope the jury's all-male.

  19. Anonymous Cowherder
    Thumb Up

    Charges?!?!?!

    I'd give this lad a medal not jail time!

    I've a lot of time for Scarlet, a lot of time.

  20. Anonymous C0ward
    Paris Hilton

    Rapidshare links please!

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Enjoy the Iron Bar Hotel

    This lad must be desperate and stupid. Bubba will teach him well.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    They should prosecute the email service for undermining a secure password with insecure reset questions...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Or send hackers to prison for 60 years

      I like option 1.

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