Feds arrest “most hated man on the Internet” in revenge porn hacking case

As the founder of one of the first highly profitable sites to post nude photos of people against their will, 27-year-old Hunter Moore had already been branded the most hated man on the Internet. On Thursday, he was arrested on federal charges claiming that he paid a man to break into the e-mail accounts of hundreds of victims and steal sexually explicit images that later showed up on Moore's notorious isanyoneup.com site.

According to an indictment filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Moore paid $200 or more per week for images that he knew were obtained by illegally accessing the e-mail accounts. To cover his tracks, he used PayPal accounts that weren't linked to his identity and at one point created new e-mail addresses and deleted data tied to past hack attacks. Moore's arrangement with Charles "Gary" Evens, who is now 25, began at an unknown date and lasted until about May 2, 2012, prosecutors alleged in the 15-count charging document.

According to the indictment:

Defendant EVENS would gain unauthorized access to the e-mail accounts of hundreds of victims (the "victims' accounts") by various means, including "hacking" into the victims' accounts, and obtain information, including nude pictures, belonging to the victims and stored on the victims' accounts.

Defendant EVENS would send nude pictures obtained from the victims' accounts to defendant MOORE in exchange for payment.

Defendant MOORE, aware that defendant EVENS had obtained the nude pictures by gaining unauthorized access into the victims' accounts, would send payments to defendant EVENS using PayPal or directly from his bank account in exchange for the nude pictures, would offer defendant EVENS additional money to obtain unlawfully additional nude pictures, and would post the victims' nude pictures on his website, http://isanyoneup.com, without the victims' authorization.

“Impersonating these victims’ friends”

In all, Moore and Evens were charged with conspiracy, seven counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer, and seven counts of aggravated identity theft. If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each of the conspiracy and computer hacking counts. They face a mandatory two-year sentence to run consecutively for charges of aggravated identity theft. The indictment recites a litany of "overt acts" that flesh out the alleged pay-for-hack scheme. A December 8, 2011 payment for $250, for instance, allegedly compensated Evens for nude pictures of "6 guys and 6 girls." On January 16, 2012, prosecutors said Moore sent an e-mail instructing Evens to "hack more."

Assistant US Attorney Wendy Wu told Ars that Evens managed to compromise hundreds of e-mail accounts through old-fashioned trickery rather than through more technical means.

"Generally, it was by social engineering," Wu said. "It was not exploiting, to our knowledge, any vulnerabilities in any of these online accounts. Basically, he was impersonating these victims' friends and was able to get confidential information that would allow him to access their accounts." She declined to provide more specific details.

Moore took his site down in the middle of 2012, but only after profiting handsomely from the venture. At its peak, Moore said isanyoneup.com received about 30 million page views a month, allowing it to generate about $10,000 per month in ad revenue. At one point, the porn mogul entertained hopes of starting his own TV show.

Eventually, Moore became a symbol of online bullying, with Rolling Stone branding him the "most hated man on the Internet." A December 2012 New York Observer profile portrayed Moore as openly mocking the people whose nude pictures appeared on his "revenge porn" site, and he admitted to cocaine being his current drug of choice. Last March, Moore was ordered to pay a $250,000 judgment awarded in a defamation suit. In October, California enacted a law making the online publication of nude photos with an "intent to harass or annoy" a crime punishable by six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. (As distasteful as many people find the sites, some free-speech advocates have expressed opposition to such laws.)

The success of isanyoneup.com touched off a string of copycat sites that continue to vex the people whose images appear on them. Some of them have offered to remove images in exchange for payments as high as $250. The sites have often shielded themselves from legal actions through a provision in the Communications Decency Act that prevents sites from being held liable for user-posted content. Thursday's indictment suggests another strategy to fight at least some revenge porn—targeting any illegal acts that allowed it to be published in the first place.