Scarlett Johansson and other celebrities hit by an e-mail hacker could have some money coming their way. Federal prosecutors want the man who accessed the e-mail accounts of Scarlett Johansson, Christina Aguilera and Renee Olstead—releasing naked picture of the celebrities—to serve 71 months in prison and pay $150,000 in compensation, the Los Angeles Times reported .
Christopher Chaney , a 35-year-old resident of Jacksonville, Fla., hacked e-mails almost daily for two years, hitting the accounts of 50 people in the entertainment industry, the report said. He took naked pictures of Christina Aguilera from her stylist’s e-mail account, Renee Olstead’s from her e-mail stream and Scarlett Johansson’s from e-mails sent to then-husband Ryan Reynolds, the Times reported.
Chaney was so enthralled with hacking the accounts that he spent hours glued to his computer each day in the run down brick home he shared with his grandmother, the U.K.’s Daily Mail reported .
Although not an expert in computers, Chaney was able to hack the accounts using Google and the “I forgot my password” button, the Daily Mail reported. He tried different combinations of celebrity names to find the right e-mail addresses, and figured out the passwords by researching pet names, where they were born and attended school, the Daily Mail report said.
“You feel like you’ve seen something that the rest of the world wanted to see. But you’re the only one that’s seen it.,” Chaney told GQ.
Even after the FBI caught Chaney, he still continued to hack celebrity e-mails.
“Indeed, it was apparently such a rush that he continued to do it after the FBI had come and searched his home and seized his computer,” wrote assistant U.S. attorney Lisa Feldmanas she argued for the 71-month sentence.
Chaney forwarded the pictures to celebrity websites, where they became public. The Times reported that prosecutors want him to pay $7,500 to Christina Aguilera; $66,179.46 to Scarlett Johansson; $76,767.35 to Renee Olstead, an actress best known for the TV show “The Secret Life of American Teenager”; and, $10,374.59 to Aftra Health Fund.
Chaney forwarded the pictures to celebrity websites, where they became public. The Times reported that prosecutors want him to pay $7,500 to Christina Aguilera; $66,179.46 to Scarlett Johansson; $76,767.35 to Renee Olstead, an actress best known for the TV show “The Secret Life of American Teenager”; and, $10,374.59 to Aftra Health Fund.