FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2016, file photo, the Yahoo logo appears on a smartphone in Frankfurt. Yahoo Japan Corp. said Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019 it will put up a tender offer, estimated at 400 billion yen ($3.7 billion), for Zozo Inc., a Japanese online retailer started by a celebrity tycoon. Yahoo Japan announced the plan which includes a business alliance with Zozo. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
A former Yahoo software engineer has pleaded guilty to hacking into 6,000 Yahoo user accounts to illegally obtain private information.
According to a statement by the US Department of Justice, Reyes Daniel Ruiz, 34, targeted accounts that belong to young women searching for sexual images and videos. He also hacked into accounts of personal friends and work colleagues.
Ruiz was able to crack user passwords and accessed compromised Yahoo accounts through internal systems at work. He made copies of images and videos found in personal accounts without consent and stored the stolen data at his home. Ruiz also confessed to compromising other online accounts that belonged to the users such as iCloud, Facebook and Gmail to search for more intimate images and videos.
According to NBC News, Ruiz reportedly started hacking the accounts in May 2018 and continued until June 2018.
Ruiz was charged with one count of Computer Intrusion and one count of Interception of a Wire Communication. He pleaded guilty to the first charge. The maximum statutory penalty for each count in violation of Computer Intrusion, is five years imprisonment and a fine of US$250,000 (RM1.04mil), plus restitution.
Ruiz is currently released on a US$200,000 (RM838,360) bond and his sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb 3, 2020. -The Star