young women with compromising
images grabbed by hacking their
webcams has been jailed for 18 months.
Jared James Abrahams broke into about
150 online accounts over a two-year
period to commit the crimes.
More than two dozen women in the US,
Ireland and other nations had their
computers hacked by Abrahams.
One victim was Miss Teen USA 2013
beauty contest winner – Cassidy Wolf.
Abrahams was arrested in early 2013
and pleaded guilty to one count of
computer hacking and three of extortion
in November.
In a statement about the sentencing,
the US Department of Justice said
Abrahams had targeted women he had
known personally or found by hacking
their Facebook pages. Abrahams took
over email, social media accounts and
computers and used this access to
remotely turn on the machine and grab
pictures when his victims were naked.
Abrahams had then extorted cash from
victims by threatening to publicly post
nude photos and videos, said the DoJ in
a statement about the sentencing.
"As digital devices, email accounts, and
social media accounts now contain the
most intimate details of the public's
daily lives, the impact of this type of
hacking and extortion becomes more
pronounced, troubling, and far-
reaching," wrote DoJ prosecutors in a
document filed in advance of the
sentencing hearing.
"In some cases, this type of criminal
behaviour can be life-changing for the
victims – especially for vulnerable
victims who may feel it is impossible to
rebuild their tarnished reputations," said
the document.
People should be careful where they
posted images and videos to avoid
becoming a victim of extortion and
escape the risk of compromising content
being stolen, said the DoJ. In addition, it
said, people should choose hard-to-
guess passwords, keep security software
updated and avoid opening unexpected
attachments.
Lastly, it said, people should keep
webcams covered when they are not in
use.
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