'I'm just addicted to celebrities': Hacker admits stealing Scarlett Johansson's nude photos after accessing emails of FIFTY Hollywood stars

• Hacker claims he was addicted to reading celebrities' emails
• Chaney has apologised to his victims saying it was 'probably one of the worst invasions of privacy someone can experience'
• , Mila Kunis and Christina Aguilera named as victims in indictment; dozens of others remain anonymous and are ID'd by initials

Invaded: Naked pictures of Scarlett Johansson circulated the internet after they were stolen from her phone

The hacker who stole nude photos of has spoken for the first time about his 'addiction' to reading about the private lives of dozens of celebrities.
Christopher Cheney, 35, of Jacksonville, Florida was arrested after a year-long FBI investigation into the hacking of emails belonging to 50 Hollywood personalities including Christina Aguilera and Mila Kunis.
The self-confessed hacker leaked personal photos of Johannson posing naked to a celebrity website.
In his first television interview since his court appearance, Cheney claimed his crimes stemmed from 'pure curiosity', which turned into an addiction to the behind-the-scene worlds of his big screen heroes.
The 35-year-old denied that he had ever tried to blackmail any of his victims or use the material for profit.
Chaney who says he will plead guilty to charges, yesterday expressed regret for his actions, saying he 'should have just switched on TMZ'.
He also apologised to his victims saying 'I know it was probably one of the worst invasions of privacy someone can experience.'
'These people don't have privacy to begin with. I was in that little sliver of privacy they do have,' he told WTEV.
Chaney was charged with 26 counts of identity theft, unauthorized access to a protected computer and wire-tapping.
Authorities said Chaney was responsible for stealing the nude photos which were later posted on the Internet. He offered them to celebrity website but there is no evidence that Cheney attempted to profit from the scheme.
There were more than 50 victims, including Kunis, Aguilera and actress Renee Olstead. 
Others were named only by initials. Investigators said those who were named as victims in the indictment had agreed to have their identities made public.
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Hacker: Christopher Chaney claims he was addicted to reading celebrities' emails

U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Andre Birotte Jr answered questions after announcing the arrest of Christopher Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville, Florida, in Operation Hackerazzi

At a press conference on Wednesday the FBI showed how the celebrities, more 50 in total and many still anonymous, were hacked in six steps

'It helps get out the message that cyber-hacking is a real threat,' said U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte, who called those who engage in such activity as 'scum.'
Chaney hacked Google, Apple and Yahoo email accounts beginning last November through February, then hijacked the forwarding feature so that a copy of every email received was sent, 'virtually instantaneously,' to an email account he controlled, according to an indictment handed up Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles.
He allegedly used the hacker names 'trainreqsuckswhat,' ''anonygrrl' and 'jaxjaguars911,' and also used the victims' identities to illegally access and control computers.

Celebrities who agreed to be named in the indictment included Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera and lesser known actress Renee Olstead, who has a role on TV show The Secret Life of the American Teenager

Chaney is accused of damaging email servers that caused losses of at least $5,000 per instance.
Authorities wouldn't say whether Chaney was able to access email accounts via cell phones, but he was able to figure out secure passwords to various celebrity accounts through information that had been made public.
Celebrities and people in the news have long been targets of privacy invasion but concerns have redoubled in the Internet age.

Rupert Murdoch, who closed the News of the World over hacking, giving evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on the News of the World phone-hacking scandal in July

HOW THEY WERE HACKED

1 Hacker uses open source information to reset password
2 Account is breached and changes to hacker-created password
3 Hacker then communicates via email with contacts in address book
4 Account searched for compromising information for use in Hackerazzi attack
5 Forwarding email is set so even if password is reset can still track account activity
6 Hacker uses contact list to harvest new targets

In Britain, publisher Rupert Murdoch closed down the News of the World this year after contentions that the tabloid routinely hacked into people's phones in the hunt for exclusive stories.
The paper, which had published for 168 years, faced allegations of systematically intercepting private voicemail of those in the news — including a teenage murder victim.
Investigators said they hoped the celebrity-infused case will jump-start those who don't value online security enough to protect their personal information and create more secure passwords that can't be easily figured out by would-be hackers.
'Taking these steps will go a long way in protecting yourself from the financial and emotional costs of having someone intrude on your private life and potentially steal your identity,' Birotte said.