Celebrity Hacker Charged: Is Alonzo Knowles Linked To Jennifer Lawrence’s Nude Photos And The Fappening?

Has the Fappening hacker finally been caught? Alonzo Knowles is the name of the celebrity hacker charged by Department of Homeland Security investigators with stealing naked photos, sex tapes, copyrighted materials, TV scripts, videos, and other digital information. Last year, the release of Selena Gomez and Jennifer Lawrence’s nude photos made the Fappening infamous all over the world, but the person or persons responsible were never arrested. The reason that some suspect that Knowles may be linked to the Fappening hacker is because he stole information from 130 celebrities, but it is the matter in which he committed the crime which may give us a hint.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, Melissa Bonoist’s nude photos leaked before she ever became CBS’ Supergirl, but her early topless roles on TV have haunted the focus on being a role model for young girls.

The Department of Homeland Security had the celebrity hacker charged after he tried selling 15 copyrighted scripts of movies and television shows to an undercover law enforcement agent in New York. According to the official criminal complaint filed by the authorities, the man claimed to have “exclusive content” that was “really profitable” and worth “hundreds of thousands of dollars.” The hacker claimed that once he knew the cast of an upcoming movie or TV show that it was “easy” for him to get an unreleased script.

Alonzo Knowles, who went under the name Jeff Moxey, was hoping to sell this information for $80,000, but he apparently had stolen personal data from many celebrities from all over, including personal identifying information such as Social Security numbers and private sex videos and nude photos. Knowles told the undercover agent that he procured the stolen data directly from the victims without their knowledge, and showed off a list of 130 emails and phone numbers.

While the criminal complaint never lists the names of the victims, it seems likely that Knowles is not the Fappening hacker. When the Department of Homeland Security had the celebrity hacker charged, they also listed in detail how the hacker stole the celebrity sex tapes and photos. There were two methods involved, with the first being a virus sent directly to the victim’s computer in order to provide access.

The second hacking method was a little more complicated. Knowles would send a false notification to the celebrity, claiming that their private email accounts had been hacked. The victim would be required to enter their password, and Knowles would change the settings of the email account in order to give him ongoing access from then on. Using this second method, he could potentially gain access to more information, including phone numbers and personal identification.

This method is markedly different from the 4Chan leaked photos scandal, which became to be known as the Fappening. It is believed the majority of the leaked photos, including Jennifer Lawrence’s nude photos, were found by exploiting Apple security holes and combing through Apple iCloud backups in their cloud storage system.

“For many of the photos, the celebrity pictured did not have their account breached—instead, the source was a boyfriend or friend who had the photos sent to their phone which was then backed up and broken into,” explains a report from 2014. “Many of the photos were actually taken with a laptop or by another person, not a handheld device or by the celebrity themselves.”

Knowles, on the other hand, targeted the celebrities directly based upon his statement to the DHS undercover agent.

At the same time, it became apparent that the person who leaked the nude photos during the Fappening was not the original hacker. Last year, it was believed this unknown hacker sold the collection of photos to the collector who leaked them online. While the criminal complaint against Alonzo Knowles does acknowledge that the man had an ongoing interest in selling private sex tapes and photos of celebrities, the Department of Homeland Security does not indicate that he is the Fappening hacker, or is connected to the 2014 incident.

[Image via YouTube]