Ex-Yahoo Engineer: I Hacked 6K Accounts for Sex Pics, Vids

Young women who were colleagues or friends of Reyes Daniel Ruiz may not like the news they're hearing, though at least they can take comfort that he's been busted. CNN reports that the 34-year-old software engineer pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to using the access he used to have at Yahoo to hack into some 6,000 accounts and snoop through users' private data. What Ruiz was mainly on the hunt for, per a Justice Department statement: "primarily sexual images and videos of the account holders." Ruiz is said to have figured out user passwords to target the accounts of young women, including those of co-workers and friends outside of work.

"Once he had access to the Yahoo accounts, Ruiz admitted to compromising the iCloud, Facebook, Gmail, (Dropbox), and other online accounts of the Yahoo users in search of more private images and videos," the statement notes. Authorities say he then stored that stolen imagery and footage at home—until Yahoo suspected something was up, and Ruiz subsequently destroyed the computer and hard drive where he kept the data. Ruiz, who pleaded guilty to one count of computer intrusion, is set to be sentenced in February. He could receive up to five years in prison, plus have to pay a $250,000 fine and restitution. He's currently on release on a $200,000 bond. (More Yahoo stories.)