A second hacker accused in the cyberattack that exposed some of Hollywood's biggest stars has pleaded guilty.
Edward Majerczyk, 28, who lives in Chicago and Orland Park, signed a plea agreement in return for a lenient sentence, confessing to one count of "unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information" under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
He sent classic phishing emails spoofed to come from the victims' 'internet service providers' which ultimately gave him access to their Gmail and iCloud accounts, according to theDepartment of Justice. He then trawled these accounts for personal information including private photos and videos.
Majerczyk is said to have accessed a whopping 300 accounts from November 2013 to August 2014, around 30 of which belonged to celebrities.
"This defendant not only hacked into e-mail accounts - he hacked into his victims' private lives, causing embarrassment and lasting harm," said Deirdre Fike, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office.